Faberrittana 5 It must look pretty appealing
by NayaFan
Summary: Starts at the beginning of the girl's freshman year at UCLA. The girls try to maintain their relationship while they settle into college life. Rated M for a reason. Contains domestic discipline and Femslash.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Glee or any of the original Glee characters, anyone you don't recognise is mine.**

**I've had this idea for a while and finally just decided to write it, Hope you enjoy it, R&R please.**

**As usual this is for my favourite trio :)**

**This takes place during the whole of freshman year of college.**

Chapter 1

Santana grins when she catches Rachel's eyes in the mirror, shooting the smaller brunette a wink as she adjusts her hair. She turns and walks over to her girlfriend, looping her arms around the diva's petite waist and pressing a gentle kiss onto her lips.

"Hey roomie" she smirks, smoothing down Rachel's bed-head. "Did you sleep well?"

"Like a baby" Rachel replies, when did Quinn and Brittany go back to their room?"

"About ten minutes ago, they wanted to get started on their unpacking since we distracted them tonight. I noticed that we have Bio-chem together tomorrow morning. Wanna sit in the back and make out?" The latina flirt, batting her eye lids in a ridiculous fashion.

"I guess that sounds appealing...just this once" Rachel laughs. "I wish we could all share the same room" she muses.

"They're only down the hall" Santana shrugs, "It could be worse plus I think our neighbours would freak if we kept them up every night" she chuckles, turning to look at the door when Quinn walks in.

"Brittany's talking to the guy that tried to sell you weed last night" the blonde tells Santana, rolling her eyes and kissing each of them. "What's the plan for our last day of freedom?"

"I thought we could explore, find out where all the decent sized closets are" the latina replies with a wink, "And of course, check out the library and other important shit like that" she adds after a stern look from Rachel. She ignores the whip cracking noise that Quinn makes as she goes back to the mirror to apply her make-up.

"I'll go shower" Rachel states, grabbing her towel, "I'll be quick" she adds as she slips out of the room.

"So she'll be around an hour then" Quinn smiles, sitting on the two single beds that Santana had pushed together. "There's not much privacy around here" she sighs, "The walls are paper thin."

"We can just play music if we need to, our neighbours seem like the partying type anyway" Santana responds as she applies her eye liner.

"I just can't believe we actually made it out of Lima, I didn't know the air could be so warm" Quinn laughs.

"That's why I voted for UCLA, even New York gets freezing cold. Having sex outside is so much more enjoyable when my nipples aren't cutting glass"

"Full of class as usual San" the blonde says, shaking her head. "But I see your point."

0-00-0

Brittany lets out a sigh as she leans back in her chair, convinced that her english lit. professer actually wanted his students to fall asleep. She struggles to keep her eyes open as he drones on about Romeo and Juliet, she rolls her eyes as he starts quoting the play in the same monotonous tone. She feels her cell vibrate and she discreetly pulls it out her pocket, smiling when she sees it's from her new friend Nathan, asking if she wanted to grab some coffee after the class. Brittany cranes her neck to look down the row of seats until she sees his smiling face, she nods at him and he gives her a thumbs up before settling back in his seat.

"Are you paying attention back there?" Brittany turns and notices her professer giving her a questioning look, she nods and gestures to her notes. This seemingly satisfies him as he goes back to turning a legendary play into the most boring thing in the world. She barely manages to stop herself cheering when the class ends, she waits until Nathan makes his way over to her, smirking at the look of relief on his face.

"Ready to get out of here?" he asks in his southern accent.

"God yes" she replies, making him laugh as he leads her out of the classroom, Brittany stops when she notices Rachel standing outside the door, obviously waiting for her.

"Hey Rach" she smiles, kissing her on the cheek and ignoring the slight frown that takes over the diva's face. "This is Nathan, I forgot to text you, I'm going to grab coffee with him"

"It's nice to meet you" Nathan drawls politely, Rachel giving him a smile and a nod.

"Well, I'll leave you to it" Rachel says, leaning forward to kiss Brittany, shocked when the dancer moves her head so that her lips brush her pale cheek.

"Yeah, see ya Rach" Brittany says before following Nathan down the hallway, leaving the confused brunette on her own. Brittany had never had a problem with displays of affection before, in fact, she was usually the one that encouraged it. She decides to shrug it off, knowing that she can always ask Brittany about it later.

0-00-0

Santana throws her pen across the dorm in frustration as she realises that she would have to pull an all nighter if she wanted to finish her essay. 'College looked a hell of a lot more fun on TV' she thinks to herself, glancing at Rachel who was giving her a wary look. The latina shoots the shorter girl a smile before grabbing a different pen off of her desk and continuing to write. Rachel realises it's wiser not to say anything about the other pen, considering the dark mood that the latina is in. She grins when Quinn enters the room, the grin sliding off as the door is slammed shut and her other girlfriend slumps onto the bed next to her with a pout on her face.

"Jeez Quinn, just start slamming doors when I'm trying to.." Santana trails off and her face softens when she notices Quinn's expression. "What's up babe?" she asks in genuine concern.

"Brittany still isn't back, she said she'll be late" Quinn grumbles, "She's with Nathan again"

"That's like the third time this week" Rachel states, "She's always with him" she adds bitterly. Santana sighs as she looks at her miserable girlfriends and pushes her essay away from her and moves to join them on the bed.

"Come on guys, you know how hard it is for Britt to make friends, this is a good thing. I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon and she'll start spending a little more time with us again" she smiles. Quinn nods, knowing that if the latina is being reasonable then it usually means that they were overreacting. Santana keeps the fact, that she feels the same as them, to herself.

**Let me know what you think guys :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Glee or any of the original characters,It all belongs to RIB and Fox. anyone you don't recognise is mine :)**

**Thank you for all the interest in this fic, I was surprised by how quickly people reviewed!**

**As usual, Mama-Bear, Squishy and K :)**

Chapter 2

Santana forces herself to be patient as she waits for Brittany to finish her conversation with Nathan after their English Lit. class. She leans against the doorway, giving the professer a polite smile as he passes her, leaving Brittany and Nathan as the sole occupants of the classroom. The latina hated how much time her girlfriend had spending with Nathan over the last few weeks, resenting his constant presence in their lives. She forces a smile to her face as they finally make their way to the door, not missing the disappointed look on Brittany's face as she said goodbye to the southern teen, Santana receiving a polite nod from him as he squeezes past her.

"Hey B, how was class?" The latina asks, gently kissing the dancer and smiling when she feels the blonde's arms snake round her waist.

"It was good, where's Rachel and Quinn?"

"They're meeting us outside their Art History class" Santana smiles, taking a hold of Brittany's hand and leading her down the hall.

"None of them took Art, San" The dancer says with a confused look as she stops them. Her confusion grows when she notices the flash of annoyance cross her latina's face.

"They took it together after they realised that they didn't have any classes together, they've been going for three weeks Brittany, Rachel spent an hour telling you about it last week" Santana sighs as she notices that her girlfriend is still confused. "It was on our date night, _Nathan_ called you soon after and you left us in the freaking restaurant!" the latina snaps, bored of Brittany not caring about their relationship.

"Don't say his name like that!" Brittany spits at the annoyed latina, pissing her off some more.

"Like what?" she snaps back, frustration that had been building for weeks, threatening to come firing out as she tries to control herself.

"Like he's something that you scraped off the bottom of your shoe! I'm allowed to have friends Santana!" Brittany all but yells at her.

"Of course you are, but it doesn't mean you put your relationship second. Rachel has spent most of the last few weeks crying because she thinks we're gonna lose you."

"Maybe you will" Brittany murmers, guilt twisting in her stomach as she watches Santana's eyes fill with fear. She turns away from the latina and walks the opposite way, not turning back to look at the young woman who is desperately clinging to her self control, begging herself not to lose it.

0-00-0

Brittany quietly slips in her dorm room, praying that Quinn is asleep, inwardly cursing when the lamp clicks on and Quinn is staring back at her. Her green eyes are a myriad of emotions as she studies the other blonde and Brittany feels uncomfortable under her gaze.

"Are you sleeping with him?" Quinn asks simply and Brittany's eyebrows rise in shock, she clears her throat, thinking about her response.

"No" she states honestly and Quinn's intense stare crumples with relief. Her mind feeling so much lighter as she smiles at her girlfriend until she hears the words that almost make her heart stop, "But I want to". The shorter blonde feels like she can't breathe, finding herself outside of Santana and Rachel's room before she even realises that her feet have moved.

"Quinn? What's going on baby?" Quinn vaguely hears Santana's voice cut through the hze that surrounds, can feel the warm arms wrapping around her and pulling her into the room. She feels herself being guided to the bed, another set of arms taking a hold of her. She can hear yelling, Santana and Brittany yelling at each other in another room, a soft melodic voice murmering soothing words into her hears the angry voices growing panicked and she wonders what is happening until she feels her chest ache,not the metphorical pain that Brittany's words had caused but a physical tightening pain as she chokes on the air around her.

"Just Shut up Brittany!" Quinn awakes to Santana's angry whisper. "She's fine, it was a panic attack. You can go now. Go fuck your precious Nathan like you're dying to" Quinn opens her eyes in time to see Brittany's tear streaked face give her an apologetic look before leaving. "Hey, you're awake" Santana's soft voice is in vast contrast to the tone she used with Brittany. The latina looks down at her with a loving, tired expression on her face and Quinn realises that it's morning and Santana had clearly been up all night.

"Are you ok?" Rachel asks from the space next to Quinn on the bed, "You gave us a scare last night?" Rachel watches her girlfriend with tired eyes as the blonde slowly sits up, her eyes filling with tears again.

"She left us?" is all Quinn can ask, her eyes flitting between the two brunettes, feeling her heart break when Santana nods, her own tears threatening to spill over at having to confirm it to her devasted girlfriend. Quinn nods, falling into Santana's arms, the latina holding her as the sobs wrack through her body.

"We'll be ok" Rachel murmers, as she soothingly rubs Quinn's back, her eyes burning from lack of sleep and crying all night. "We'll be ok" she repeats, not really believing it herself.

**Let me know what you think, I struggled with this chapter and it kind of sucked to write but I'll do my best to get chapter 3 up quickly.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I do now own Glee or any of the original characters, they all belong to RIB and Fox. Any characters you don't recognise are my own creation.**

**Thank you for the support for the story and for the personal support I've gotten via Twitter, you're awesome. K, Mama Bear and Squishy, you guys are brilliant!**

Chapter 3

The first time Santana sees Brittany with her hand in Nathan's she wants nothing more to run back to her dorm room and cry her hear out. She forces herself to stalk by them, keeping her eyes straight ahead as she headed to the library to take a few of her law books back. She wasn't surprised to find Quinn there, hunched over a history book as she actively avoids going back to the room that she still shares with Brittany. The last week had been hell, Quinn only ever going to the room when she knew that Brittany wouldn't be there, choosing to sleep with Santana and Rachel most nights, even if it was just that, sleeping. Quinn smiles when she feels the arms that held her at night wrap around her from behind.

"Hey" she grins, happily accepting the kiss that Santana offers her before slumping next to her.

"Hi" Santana smiles back. "How's the studying going?"

"It's ok, I'm thinking about giving up for the rest of the weekend though, I'm not taking much in" Quinn sighs and Santana gives her a sympathetic smile. "I thought we could maybe drive to my parent's beach house tonight, stay there until Sunday?"

"That sounds good baby girl, we'll need to check with Rachel but I think she'd love that idea, it's not that far, an hours drive, two tops." The latina states, pulling out her cell and firing a text to Rachel. "It'll be nice to get away from things, even if it is just for a two nights" she murmers to her girlfriend as she slides her cell back into her pocket.

"Her ears must have been burning" Quinn smirks, gesturing to the fact that Rachel has just entered the library, beaming when she sees her girlfriends and practically skipping over to them.

"Hi guys" she chirps, kissing both of them and sitting down. "I thought you'd be here"

"I just text you, how would you feel about heading to the beach house for a couple of nights?" Santana asks, pushing a stray hair from the diva's face.

"Really? I'd love it but only if we can leave now, the TA from Quinn and I's Art History class wants me to help him out and I won't be able to say no if I see him" Santana rolls her eyes at the diva before nodding. "I'll go to the gas station and fill up the car, I'll meet you at the dorm" Rachel tells them excitedly, pretty much running from the library.

"Just when you think she can't get any cuter" Santana chuckles, standing up and taking her books to the librarian before taking Quinn's hand. "Come on, we'll get stuff from your room before we meet Rachel" she says, pulling her up and leading her from the library. They walk hand in hand back to the dorms, excited to leave for the weekend. They're still giggling to each each other as they push open the door to Quinn's room, both sobering instantly when they realise Brittany and Nathan are in the room.

"Oh, sorry" Quinn mumbles as Brittany guiltily avoids looking directly at them, they were merely snuggling while watching a movie but to Santana they may as well have been having sex as she feels her chest constrict. She gestures for Quinn to start grabbing her things, actively ignoring the other two people in the room as she leans against the door frame while Quinn throws some clothes into her rucksack.

"Are you guys going away?" Santana's eyes snap to look at the other blonde, surprised that she had spoken to her.

"Yes. We're going to the beach house" the latina answers curtly, turning her attention back to Quinn and ignoring the hurt expression on Brittany's face. Santana could feel her anger burning up as she internally ranted to herself, thinking that Brittany had no right to be hurt by the fact that they were going away, what did she expect? For us to to stop living our lives just because she abandoned us?

"I'm done" Quinn mutters, approaching Santana.

"Have a nice time" Nathan tells them and the latina gives him a fleeting glance filled with hatred as she pulls the door closed behind her and Quinn.

"Are you ok?" Santana asks her quietly and Quinn nods.

"Let's just get out of here" she replies, shooting Santana a reassuring smile, one that doesn't quite reach her eyes. The latina notices, deciding not to say anything, knowing that she too wouldn't be able to smile.

0-00-0

Rachel's sigh breaks through the silence in the car, she knows that something happened while she was filling up the car and she knows that it's something to do with Brittany. Nobody else could be responsible for the broken expression on Quinn's face or Santana's defensive posture. She also knew that she didn't want to know what had happened, they were obviously keeping it to themselves for a reason.

"It'll be nice to be away from things for a while" she states, glancing at the latina next to her before turning her attention back to the road.

"It sure will baby girl" Santana replies, giving the diva a tender smile, turning to look at Quinn, glad to see that she has fallen asleep. "At least she's finally getting some sleep" she states sadly.

"I'm worried about her" Rachel murmers. "She's not herself"

"None of us are" The latina replies gently, "It's only been a week, things will get better. I promise. I'll take care of you both" Santana adds firmly and Rachel smiles, knowing that her girlfriend meant every word she said.

"You know you can talk to me" Rachel says to Santana, the latina nodding but unable to voice her feelings, not yet.

**Let me know what you think**


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Glee or any of the original Glee characters, it all belongs to RIB and Fox.**

**Thanks for all the reviews I received for the last chapter. To the people sending abusive PMs about it, remember it's fiction :)**

**For K,MB &Squishy.**

Chapter 4

There is a part of Brittany that wishes she hadn't slept with Nathan, or to be more precise, wishes that she hadn't enjoyed it, hadn't fallen for him even more. She hates herself for how broken her ex girlfriends look when she sees them on campus, noticing the protector is Santana come out as she distracts the other girls while pulling them closer to her body. It was a trait that Brittany loved and never thought it would be used against her. She misses them, even just the little things, how Rachel could make her smile at any given moment, how Quinn see through any fake smile or made up excuse and how Santana was feared by most of Mckinley, yet in reality the most caring girl you could meet.

"Are you ok?" Nathan's voice invades her thoughts and his green eyes bore into her blue ones.

"Uh yeah, I'm fine" She smiles, "You want to go grab some dinner? I'm starved"

"That's because we've been in in bed since yesterday afternoon" he grins with a glint in his eyes and Brittany giggles, kissing him and getting out of bed. She can feel his eyes on her naked body as she finds clean clothes to wear.

"So where do you want to go?" She asks him and Nathan shrugs, clearly not interested in eating anymore. "Should we just grab some take-out and bring it here? I'm not really in the mood to go anywhere" she states and she realises that Nathan takes her words differently that she meant him to. He shoots her a wink, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and Brittany laughs. "Ok stud, you stay here and I'll grab some food" she says kissing him before slipping out of the room.

0-00-0

Santana wakes to the sound of yelling,it takes her a second to realise that she's alone in the bedroom and that the voices belong to her girlfriends. The latina forces herself to get out of bed, throwing on a t'shirt and her boy shorts before heading down to the source of the noise.

"How do I know you're not going to get bored too? Fuck me and drop me, like Brittany did. Maybe that's all I am to you, a decent fuck" Santana hears Rachel snap, stopping in the doorway of the kitchen just as the diva has decided to stage one of her infamous storm outs. Rachel's eyes widen as she realises that Santana would have heard what she said and she avoids looking at the latina who is inches from her.

"I suggest you go and calm down" Santana tells her firmly, "Go get dressed, you can come with me to get some decent coffee" Rachel nods, squeezing past her girlfriend and heading up to their bedroom.

"Hey" Quinn tells her weakly, happily falling into the latina's outstretched arms.

"What was that all about?" Santana questions, pressing a kiss to Quinn's cheek, inhaling her girlfriend's scent.

"She's been in a weird mood ever since she woke up, she's clearly more shaken up by Brittany than she's been letting on. Everytime I tried to talk to her, I got a bitchy comment and as soon as I tried to tell her off she just blew up" Quinn sighs, feeling calmer by the second in Santana's embrace.

"I'll talk to her" The latina murmurs, worried about how insecure Rachel has been feeling. "Are you ok baby?" She feels Quinn nod against her, "Promise me you'll tell when you're not"

"I promise" Quinn's voice is muffled by Santana's neck but the sincerity is there. "You should go put more clothes on if you're planning on leaving the house" the blonde smirks, pulling away with a chaste kiss.

0-00-0

Santana leads Rachel back into the house, wincing as the diva slams the door closed and runs upto the bedroom. Santana thinks about following her then decides against it, she'll allow her to calm down and come to her. The latina finds Quinn on the decking at the back of the house and sits next to her.

"How did it go?" Santana lets out a dry laugh at the blonde's question.

"Not well" she replies, putting her feet up onto the table. "She refused to talk about it, I don't know what set her off but she's terrified of us following Brittany out the door" the latina sighs. "She ran upstairs, I figured I'd let her calm down because, If I'm honest, if she talks to me the way she has been again, I may just throw her over my lap on the spot" Quinn nods in agreement.

"I was tempted to earlier" Quinn admits, "But it would go against our whole relationship to do it without talking to her about it first and she doesn't want to talk then we can't force it"

"Yeah I know" The latina sighs as her cell beeps. Her eyes widen as she reads the text. "Brittany says she's sorry for texting Rachel and she thinks she might have upset her" Santana tells Quinn, noticing the flash of pain that crosses her face at the sound of Brittany's name. "Did Rach tell you anything about a text from her?"

"No, it makes sense now though" Quinn replies, standing up and walking back into the house, Santana silently following her as she makes her way up to the bedroom to find Rachel. They are confronted with an empty bedroom, both girls immediately searching the rest of the house for the diva.

"The car's gone" Santana tells Quinn, she must have gone for a drive. I wish she would tell us before she decides to take off" she adds with a hint of anger in her voice. "Doesn't she realise that we're going through the exact thing that she is?"

"I know, she deals with things differently San" Quinn murmurs to her girlfriend, "We'll give her an hour and then we can call her" the blonde says reasonably and Santana nods reluctantly.

0-00-0

Rachel slams her hand against the steering wheel as she sits in traffic, bringing her cell out of the glove compartment and re-reading Brittany's texts, Brittany telling her that she missed her, a second text insensitively explaining that the first was just a friendly admission, she didn't want to get back together. The diva throws her cell down onto the passenger seat, tears in her brown eyes as she is finally able to start moving again. Her plan to drive as far away as possible failing as she realises that the car is slowly running out of gas. Rachel pulls the car into the first gas station she finds, filling the tank and going inside to pay, cursing herself when she remembers that her wallet is in Santana's purse.

"Miss.." The attendants voice reminds her that she needs to pay and she gives the bored looking teenager an apologetic look as she explains that she has left her purse at home. The diva flirts as hard as she can, failing when the boy threatens to phone the police. Rachel really doesn't want to phone Santana or Quinn, knowing she would have to explain why she was over an hour away from the beach house, closer to Brittany than either of them. She assures the teenager that she's getting someone to bring money before dialling a familiar number.

"Hey, I need your help" she tells the person on the other end of the line, explaining her situation. "Thanks Brittany, I'll see you soon" she tells the dancer with relief before ending her call and waiting for her ex to arrive.

**Let me know what you think :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own Glee or any of the original Glee characters, It all belongs to RIB and Fox. Anyone you don't recognise is my creation.**

**Thank you to everybody who has reviewed. StraightUpBitch, I tried to reply but you don't allow private messages so thanks for your reviews! :)**

**As usual, my friends, MB,K&Squishy**

Chapter 5

Brittany finds Rachel waiting beside the cash register as she enters the gas station. She notices the relief that crosses the brunette's face and sends her a small reassuring smile as she approaches the attendant. The blonde hands over the sixty dollars and leads Rachel out of the gas-station, nodding towards the diner next to it, thankful that Rachel agrees. They sit in one of the many empty booths, silent apart from to order a coffee.

"Thank you" Rachel finally says, her voice quiet even in the silent diner. Brittany smiles at her, waiting for the waitress to place their coffees on the table and leave before speaking.

"I'm sorry about the texts" Brittany tells the shorter girl sincerely, "I didn't mean to upset you"

"What makes you think you upset me?" Rachel asks in a harsh tone, her eyes flashing.

"I know you Rachel" the blonde answers simply, ignoring the less than grateful tone in the brunette's voice. "Why did you call me? Why not Santana or Quinn?"

"They'll be mad at me" Rachel answers curtly and Brittany gives her a knowing look before gesturing towards the diva's cell.

"How many missed calls do you have from them?" The silence following Brittany's question is answer enough for her, "It'll be worse if you don't call them back" she insists.

"I know" Rachel whispers, "But I can't call them right now" she insists and something clicks in Brittany's head.

"Because you called me" she states, hating how sad this makes her feel, knowing that she doesn't have a say when it comes to the girls anymore. "Santana and Quinn being mad isn't the only reason you chose to call me, is it?" Rachel shakes her head, her eyes filling with tears as she bows her head, glad that Brittany doesn't say anything, letting her pull herself together instead.

"I don't understand" Rachel finally says, lifting her head to look into the blue eyes of the woman that she is still in love with. "I thought we were happy but you just left. Were we not enough anymore?"she asks sadly and Brittany feels guilt run through her body.

"Of course you were, I just...I can't help who I have feelings for Rach. Nathan is a good man and I knew that our relationship wouldn't last forever so I didn't want to pass up the chance to be in a normal relationship" Brittany regrets her choice of words even as she says them. "You know what I mean" she murmurs. Rachel looks conflicted for a second before looking back at Brittany with a fierceness in her eyes that the blonde has never seen before.

"Why wouldn't our relationship last forvever? It may not fit into the rules of society but in my eyes it's perfect, we love each other and trust each other. We look out for each other and want to spend the rest of our lives together. I realise that the idea of a 'normal' relationship would be appealing, of course you won't get the funny looks or the disgusted whispers going on behind your back but if you're not happy then what's the point?" The diva rages, her eyes burning holes into Brittany.

"I want to have a family Rachel" The blonde replies seriously, "Can you see the four of us being allowed to raise a family?"

"There would be ways to go about it without using the law" Rachel responds instantly, it was something that she had thought about before. "Are you with Nathan because it's easier?" Brittany lets out a sigh, giving Rachel a tired look and the diva wonders if she's hit the truth.

"I'm falling for him" she answers simply, ready for the topic of conversation to change. "Call Santana or I will" she adds and Rachel sighs, picking up her cell and dialling Santana's number.

0-00-0

Quinn watches as Santana paces back and forth between the window and the couch, recognising the look on the latina's face as the sign of an internal battle. She knows that her girlfriend is forcing herself to calm down and she also knows that she's failing. Her set jaw and blazing eyes silently telling Quinn that Rachel has once again crossed the line with her behaviour. The blonde stands up, walking over to Santana, forcing her to cease her pacing with a curious look in her dark eyes. Sincere hazel eyes convey the love Quinn feels, calming the latina slightly as Quinn pulls her into her toned arms, Santana melting into the embrace. No words are needed as they break apart, the blonde sitting back down, Santana moving to stand by the window, silently glaring out at the darkening sky.

"Is that her?" Quinn asks a while later when she hears a car pulling up near-by, a stiff nod is the only response Santana offers as she watches Rachel get out of the car and walk towards the house. "Are you calm?"

"I'm calm enough" Santana sighs, looking away from the window and turning to look at Quinn, listening as Rachel enters the house, hearing her walk towards the livingroom where they are waiting. The diva pauses in the doorway, unable to look either of her girlfriends in the eye, feeling and looking so broken.

"I'm sorry, I just... Rachel trails off with a shrug. Santana walks towards her, pulling her into her arms without speaking, feeling the smaller brunette's body heave with the force of her sobs. The latina shares a pained look with Quinn who has moved to stand beside them, both girls rubbing soothing circles on Rachel's back.

"It's ok baby girl" Santana whispers, desperate to stop the tears, they had cried over Brittany long enough.

**I'm hoping to get the next chapter up soon :) Let me know what you think**


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own Glee or any of the original Glee characters, it all belongs to RIB and Fox.**

**Happy Birthday K! This chapter is for you mate, hope you have an amazing day!**

Chapter 6

Rachel wakes up wrapped in Quinn's arms, feeling protected and loved. She turns slightly, expecting to see Santana passed out on the other side of the blonde, surprised that the latina isn't there. She gently extracts herself from Quinn's grasp, tip-toeing out of the room and heading down to the livingroom. The diva finds her girlfriend laying on the sofa with a blanket, aimlessly flicking through the tv channels. Santana gives her a small smile as she holds the blanket open, allowing Rachel to curl up beside her before covering them both up.

"Don't ever say that to either of us again Rach, you know that we love you more than anything. You'll never be just a fuck. Disappearing doesn't solve anything" Santana murmurs firmly.

"I haven't told you the full story" Rachel whispers, feeling the latina tense against her. "I stopped for gas when I was out"

"But I have your wallet" Santana states, pulling herself up into a sitting position, having a feeling that she's not going to like what Rachel has to tell her.

"Yeah I know, I called Brittany to help me out" Rachel tells her quickly, watching as Santana's eyes narrow and she lets out a sigh, looking back at the diva with tired eyes.

"I was angry and confused and I was closer to her. The gas station attendant was going to call the police, and you didn't have any way of getting to me, I'm sorry. I just had to hear it" the diva rambles, stopping when Santana puts her finger over her lips, stilling them.

"I'm not mad, at least not about that. You did the right thing baby girl, we'll pay Brittany back when we get back to college tonight. What I am mad about is you just left, again and the way you spoke to Quinn yesterday was unacceptable. I get that you're confused and pissed, I am too but taking it out on each other isn't the way to deal with it. Brittany left us, it was her decision, not any of ours" Santana says carefully.

"I know" Rachel bows her head, realising how unfair she had been. Santana puts her finger under the diva's chin, urging her to look at her.

"You know you're gonna get punished right?" Rachel nods guiltily. "And you know it's for disappearing on us, not for calling Brittany or for how you're feeling ok?" Santana kisses Rachel's lips softly after the diva nods. "I'll go wake Quinn up, you go wait in the corner"

0-00-0

"Why are you being punished Rachel?" Santana asks firmly as she sits on the sofa, Quinn occupying the armchair as she looks on.

"Because I left without telling you guys and for being horrible to Quinn, Ma'am" Rachel states in a small voice as she stands in front of the latina. Santana nods, satisfied with the answer and pulls Rachel's shorts and panties down in the same swoop. She guides the smaller girl over her lap and adjusts her so that her backside is the clear target. The latina shares a look with Quinn before smacking her hand down sharply, leaving a pink hand print in the middle of the diva's left buttock. She spanks Rachel's sensitive bottom thoroughly, not one inch of skin untouched, forcing herself to ignore her girlfriend's yelps of pain as she concentrates on smacking her hand down again and again.

"If you ever do that to us again, I promise that you won't be able to sit down for a week" Santana lectures, "Do you understand me?" she asks sternly, punctuating each word with a hard spank.

"Yes Ma'am. I won't ever do it again" Rachel sniffles as her girlfriend continues to light a fire in her behind. "I promise".

"Good" Santana can feel her hand starting to tingle as she lays down firm slaps to Rachel's sit spots. She stops, rubbing the tender flesh softly. "Almost done" she murmurs to the diva, holding her hand out to Quinn, who hands her the wooden spoon from the kitchen. Rachel jerks as she feels the sting of the spoon, not as heavy as the paddles that were usually used on her behind but making just as much of an impression on her. The latina whips her hand down, swatting the reddened flesh over and over again, hooking her leg over Rachel's when the diva starts kicking.

"I'm sorry" Rachel chokes out as she starts to sob, the burning pain in her bottom becoming too much for her to take stoically.

"Five more, I want you name five rules we have in this relationship" Santana orders, bringing the spoon down harder.

"No lying" Rachel yelps. Santana nods, smacking the spoon in the centre of the bright red behind over her lap.

"No disrespect!" Another sharp slap hits the top of her thigh as Rachel forces herself to use her words.

"No cheating!"

"Two more baby girl" The latina informs the sobbing diva, using her hand for the fourth spank.

"No alcohol" Rachel all but screams out, the last spank coming down harder than the rest.

"No running away from problems"

"Good girl, it's over" Santana states gently, rubbing her hand softly over Rachel's heated skin. "Clean slate" she murmurs. The latina lets her girlfriend cry over her lap for a few minutes before helping her stand up and pulling her into a strong hug, pressing tender kisses to her face.

"I'm sorry" Rachel whimpers, holding onto Santana for dear life. Quinn stands, joining them, putting her arms around both of them as Rachel cries.

"You've been punished. It's done" Santana repeats. They stand there for a few more minutes before they help their still sniffling girlfriend move to the sofa, lying her on her stomach and pulling the blanket over her.

"Go to sleep" Quinn urges the diva gently, brushing stray hairs from her face and placing a kiss to her head. "We'll be here when you wake up. The blonde looks at Santana, searching her face and noticing the relief on her face. Hopefully it's over now, hopefully they can now move on.

**First things first, A huge thanks to Klmeire for her help on this chapter! It's appreciated big time. Let me know what you guys think :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**I do not own Glee or any of the Glee characters, they all belong to RIB and Fox.**

**Thank you for all your reviews and I apologise for the delay, I know a few of you have really gotten into this :)**

**For Squishy, for letting me rant :)**

Chapter 7

Quinn notices her dorm room is empty again as she enters after her last class of the day, she didn't really expect Brittany to be in there anyway. The dancer usually spends most of her time in Nathan's room ever since Quinn and Santana had interrupted a few weeks ago when they were heading to the beach house. Quinn sighs and flops down onto her bed, her legs dangling off of the edge as she pulls out her cell-phone and holds it above her head to read her messages. She lets out a laugh as she reads her usual almost porn like message from Santana and Rachel's usual sweet one.

"Oh, sorry I thought you'd be in Santana and Rachel's room" Brittany murmurs as she enters the room, closing the door behind her. Quinn just gives her a nod as the the taller blonde stands by her own bed, unpacking her backpack, her back to the other blonde. Quinn's eyes wander up Brittany's toned legs clad in her tight leggings before forcing herself to look away from the body of the girl that is no longer hers. She goes back to scrolling down her texts, making mental note to call her Mom later. "Are you doing anything tonight?" Brittany asks her.

"Not until later, why?" Quinn answers cautiously, "Do you need me out of the room?"

"No, nothing like that. I just wanted to ask if maybe you wanted to go get a coffee or something? We were friends before, I would love it if we could be now" Brittany says softly, gazing at Quinn with the crystal blue eyes that still made her go weak at the knees.

"Sure, I guess that would be ok" Quinn mumbles and the dancer beams at her. "It would be best to go off campus though, Santana works at the coffee place here"

"And she's still pissed at me?" Brittany guesses, Quinn nodding sheepishly. "That's alright, I understand, I didn't exactly help things by sending Rach that dumb text" she adds. "Come on, we'll go off campus, my treat" the dancer smiles.

"Alright" Quinn grins, standing up and stretching, following the taller girl out of the dorm. They walk together in a comfortable silence, the first in months, as they walk to the small cafe that Brittany knows Quinn loves, having been the one that was with her when she first discovered it back at the beginning of the semester.

0-00-0

Rachel sighs as she listens to Santana speak to Quinn on her cell, the latina clearly not liking what she is hearing, the deep scowl on her face telling Rachel that much. She flinches when Santana throws her cell-phone across the room after hanging up before slumping down into the desk chair, her head in her hands.

"I think you broke your cell-phone" the diva says softly.

"I don't give a damn" Santana snaps without even looking at her girlfriend.

"Don't take it out on me Santana, you can talk to me about it but you're not yelling at me" Rachel tells the latina firmly, watching as she whips her head up to look at Rachel.

"I'm not allowed to be angry?" she demands and Rachel sighs, running a hand through her hair.

"Of course you're allowed to feel whatever you like but Quinn isn't doing anything wrong, she's allowed to be friends with Brittany. It's a good thing that Britt reached out to her" the smaller brunette reasons, noticing the flash of annoyance that fills her girlfriend's dark eyes for a second.

"Yeah because it worked out so great when she reached out to you, didn't it?" Santana drawls, sarcasm and venom dripping from her words. "She'll say something to upset Quinn, just like she did with you and then I'll be left to pick up the fucking pieces, just like I did with you" Rachel winces at the tone of her girlfriend's voice, her own anger growing.

"You make it sound like it's a chore to be our girlfriends" she tells Santana icily. "It's like your mad at us for Brittany leaving"

"That's not why I'm mad" The latina snaps, "I'm mad because all you guys have done recently is mope over Brittany. I get it, it fucking sucked that she left and it sucks that I can't bring myself to hate her, no matter how much I want to! What I do hate is that we can't even have a proper relationship because you and Quinn won't accept that she's with someone else but she is! She's not coming back, it's time you both get over that and remember that you still have a relationship" Santana yells, breathing heavily and her nostrils flaring as she stares the shorter girl down.

"Well then why are you still with us?" Rachel shouts back, tears stinging her eyes.

"Because I love you guys but I'm bored of watching you guys feeling sorry for yourself and I'm sick to death of only being seen as the protector, I pushed all my shitty feelings down to help you guys but you didn't actually stop to think that I may be upset too!" Santana screams, all self control gone as she storms from the room, slamming the door behind her.

**Let me know what you think. I will do my best to update tomorrow :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**I do not own Glee or any of the original characters, it all belongs to RIB and Fox. Anyone you don't recognise is my own invention.**

**Thank you for all the reviews, some of them have been very passionate! :)**

**For K,Squishy & J**

Chapter 8

Santana slumps down onto the still warm sand as she dries her eyes for what felt like the millionth time. She stares out into the ocean, watching the waves trickle away to nothing on the shore. She knows she shouldn't have blown up at Rachel like she did, knowing the girl still worried about her and Quinn leaving her but she can't bring herself to feel guilty. The Latina had hidden her true feelings for so long that it doesn't surprise her that they were finally surfacing. She sighs, her fingers running through her hair as she thinks about what she would be returning to. Just a few weeks ago she had spanked Rachel for storming out or 'running away from problems' to quote their rules. She knows that Rachel will have no doubt called Quinn by now and they would be worrying, her thought jumping to her cell-phone which lay broken on the floor back at the drags herself back to her feet, deciding that she needs to go back, even if she doesn't want to talk about things tonight she knows she has to go back. Her mind works on overtime as she walks back through the still crowded streets, bumping into the occasional person with a murmured apology. Her stomach drops as she nears the campus gates and she notices Quinn rushing towards her. The blonde doesn't say anything, choosing to pull the Latina into a strong hug, holding her as she feels the brunettes body shake with the sobs she had held back for so feels her heart break all over again as she hold her girlfriend, knowing that she is partly to blame. She moves to the latina's side, keeping an arm around her waist. Santana keeps her face buried against Quinn's neck as the blonde guides her back to the dorm where Rachel is pacing back and forth inside the room. The diva practically throws herself at Santana, barely allowing her to enter the room fully before throwing her arms around her slim frame.

"Oh my god Santana! I was so worried, you just left. I thought you were leaving us!" she whimpers, ready to launch into a full lecture, a slight shake of the head from Quinn stopping her. The blonde gently pulls Santana over to the bed and coaxing her into laying down, laying down un front of her and pulling the sobbing teenager into her arms again. Never had she seen the Latina looking so vulnerable, guilt coursing through her body. Rachel joins them, snuggling into Santana from behind, her eyes meeting Quinn's as they lie there in silence, both of them still awake long after the latina's breathing has evened out.

"Why would we do that?" Quinn murmurs, looking down her beautiful girlfriend. She frowns at the sight, Santana would normally pass as almost angelic when she is asleep but tonight her brow is furrowed, dried tear tracks still marring her cheeks. "We've spent the last two months thinking about ourselves while Santana was being pushed aside, looking after us as if her own feelings didn't matter"

"She always seems so sure of herself, so strong, we should have known better than to think she was doing ok" Rachel agrees, gazing into hazel eyes which held so much guilt and devastation. "That's all going to change, everything she said tonight is true, how could I ever thinks she would leave us after she's suffered in silence just to protect us" the diva swipes her hand across her face, smearing her fallen tears across her cheeks.

"Maybe we need to try and steer clear of Brittany for a while" Quinn admit, reaching over to wipe at her girlfriend's tears. "What do we do when she wakes up? I can't punish her for walking out, not when she's so broken but if I don't do something then she'll take it as some sort of rejection. She's relied on me for so long to hand out consequences for her actions, she trusts me to do that for her" The blonde sighs, an internal battle going on in her head as she gazes at the two girls beside her.

"I don't think you should spank her, I don't see what good it what do in this situation" The petite girl tells her. "There are other ways to punish her for storming out, ways that could also work to our advantage, if her privileges are restricted then we would be able to keep an eye on her" Rachel reasons, watching Quinn contemplate this. The blonde nods, leaning over to kiss the diva gently before leaving a soft kiss on Santana's forehead.

0-00-0

Santana growls in frustration as she listens to her class-mates discuss the details of a party they were headed to that night. They had asked her, almost pleaded for her to come but she had given them some lame-ass excuse about a headache, rather than tell them that her girlfriend had in all effects, grounded her. She sighs as she packs her books into her shoulder bag and walks out of the class-room to find Quinn waiting for her.

"Hey babe" The blonde smiles, leaning forward to kiss Santana's full lips, "Good class?"

"It was crap, we didn't actually do anything. Everyone just kept talking about this huge party that they're all going to, hell even Rachel is going to." the latina grumbles as she takes her girlfriend's hand, walking down the hallway with her.

"Well, you broke one of your own rules, I think you got off pretty lightly considering what I got for the same offence back in high school" Quinn smirks. "How are you?" she asks seriously, studying her girlfriend out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm ok...better" Santana replies truthfully, "I think I cried myself out last night" She adds, meaning for it to be a joke, the sad tone in her voice betraying her. "Are you going to the party?" she asks, hoping to change the subject.

"Nope, I'm staying with you. I have to make sure you behave yourself" Quinn teases. Santana knows that Quinn is just saying that to save the leftover pride that the latina has and that she's really staying because she knows Santana wouldn't want to be on her own tonight, not after everything that had happened the night before. She grins at the blone, kissing her sloppily on the cheek.

"What was that for?" Quinn asks with a surprised smile.

"Nothing, just.. I love you"

**Let me know what you think :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**I do not on Glee or any of the original Glee characters, It all belongs to RIB and Fox.**

**Thank you for all the support for this story and I am sorry for the delay.**

**Just a small note to inform you that it's a Faberrittana story for a reason, I am not "Misleading" People, there will be Faberrittana again. Also, the story is listed under Santana and Brittany because the main storylines in the story majorly involve them and I am only able to pick two characters to list the story under. If I could list the story with all four of the main characters then I would do.**

**This chapter is for my faithful reviewers, you make my day when I receive them!**

Chapter 9

Santana rolls her eyes as she watches Rachel get changed for the fifth time in ten minutes, unable to decide what to wear to the party, she's not really complaing though, taking in the view of one of her girlfriends stripping down to her underwear with a grin on her face.

"I don't think I should go" Rachel tells her, turning to face the latina and smirking at the effect she is having on her.

"You should Rach, you've been working so hard. Go and have some fun, just because I'm being punished doesn't mean you can't enjoy your freedom. All of your classmates will be there" Santana encourages, the diva still not convinced. "Go Rachel, you've been looking forward to it" Rachel studies her girlfriend for a second before sighing and turning back to their tiny closet.

"Hey" Quinn says brightly as she barges into their room, kissing Rachel in greeting before slumping down onto the make-shift double bed, almost landing on top of Santana. She leans over to chastely kiss the latina, laying her head on her shoulder with a content sigh. They watch in a comfortable silence as Rachel gets dressed into her faithful little black dress. "You look hot" Quinn states simply.

"Yep" Santana adds, disappointed that she isn't able to go to the party with her, knowing that the diva was going to receive many offers from other people at the party, desperately wanting to go and scare them off for her.

"You know, I could stay" Rachel says again and Santana smirks.

"If you want to stay, then stay baby girl but I promise you I'll be fine" the latina says, realising that her girlfriend wants to stay because she's worried about her. The diva grins, pulling her dress off and pulling on a pair of sweats and a t'shirt and flopping down beside them. Santana fails to keep the smile from appearing on her face as her girlfriends both snuggle into her from each side.

0-00-0

Brittany sighs as she listens to Nathan yelling at her, noting that his voice grows more southern when he's angry. She doesn't understand why he is so angry at her, not even remembering what she has done wrong. The dancer struggles to understand his furious yelling, unable to make much sense of it, the confusion on her face informing him of this.

"God Brittany! You're such an idiot, It's not ok for you to just start hanging out with your ex without telling me" Nathan screams, not noticing the effect his word choice is having on his girlfriend.

"Nathan..I'm sorry" she murmurs, wishing that he would calm down, not used to having someone screaming at her like this. She notes to herself sadly that her apology is disregarded as he continues to yell obscenities at her. Brittany jumps when he slams his hand into the wall, the weak plaster crumbling around his fist. "Jeez Nathan, calm down" she yells, moving over to study his hand which the man now has balled up by his side.

"You want me to calm down, are you fucking kidding?" Nathan demands, his face red with fury. "You're off hanging out with your ex girlfriend, probably screwing her and I need to calm down" Brittany backs away from him, not recognising the look in his usually stunning green eyes, she feels her back bump against the dresser, unable to move further away as she stalks over to her, standing over her with a mask of anger.

"I'm sorry" she whispers again, pleading with him with her eyes and trying to move around him, his strong hand taking a hold of her wrist, effectively stopping her.

"You're not going anywhere, not when I'm talking to you" Nathan tells her harshly, squeezing the petite wrist that's in his grasp. "You can go when I tell you" he adds, glaring at his girlfriend, too angry to notice the fear in her sky blue eyes. "I want you to stay away from them, you hear me? It's weird Brittany, woman don't belong together, especially not four of them. I won't stand for it, stay away from them. Am I clear?" he asks in a cold voice, a tone Brittany had never heard from his mouth before. She nods, unable to speak as he lets go of her arm and storms out, slamming the door behind him. Brittany sinks down onto her bed, her mind reeling at the turn of events as she cradles her sore wrist, unrefrained tears dripping into her lap.

"He's just angry" the tall blonde whispers to herself as she crawls further up the bed, resting her head on the pillows, laying there in a foetal positon as she softly cries, wet tears still marring her face as she falls into an uneasy sleep.

0-00-0

Brittany awakes to Quinn entering the room and she jumps in surprise, ignoring the curious look in the other blonde's eyes.

"What are you doing here?" she asks groggily.

"I live here" Quinn replies as she moves to her own side of the room, missing the fear on Brittany's face as she keeps her back to the other girl, grabbing some clothes and stuffing them into her backpack, determined to get out of there quickly. Brittany can't help but wonder if Nathan would hold this encounter against her, knowing it would be unreasonable for him to do so but reminding herself that he hadn't exactly been reasonable the night before. She hears Quinn gasp and she follows her ex girlfriend's line of sight, her blue eyes landing on the hole in the plaster. "What happened?" Quinn questions, looking at Brittany in concern.

"Nathan and I got into an argument" Brittany states, not wishing to go into detail as she consciously pulls the sleeve of her t'shirt down over her bruised wrist. "He got a little angry"

"Are you ok?" Quinn asks, her hazel eyes staring straight into Brittany's blue ones. "He didn't hurt you did he?"

"No, of course he didn't" the taller girl replies with a forced scoff. "I'm going back to sleep" she adds, turning over, her back to Quinn. She waits until she hears the other girl leave before pulling her sleeve up and staring at the purple bruise on her wrist, making out the shape of Nathan's fingers on her sensitive skin, tears rolling down her face.

**Let me know what you think :) All reviews, including constructive criticism are welcome.**


	10. Chapter 10

**I do not own Glee or any of the original Glee cast, it all belongs to RIB and Fox. Anyone you don't recognise are my own creations.**

**I apologise about the major delay for this fic, I got caught up with my other fics. Juggling a few ongoing fics at the same time may not have been my most intelligent idea!**

**R&R please.**

**For K,K and H.**

Chapter 10

Brittany stares at the ceiling as she lays on her bed, salty tears flowing freely from her swollen eyes and running down to her pillow. The loud beep from her cell phone causes her to jump. Glancing at the screen she sees her boyfriend's name glaring back at her before she presses ignore, knowing that she wouldn't be able to stop crying long enough to talk to anyone, him especially. She continues to ignore his persistant calling, eventually just turning her phone off and turning to lay on her side, her eyes are drawn straight to the busted plaster where Nathan had punched the wall the night before.

"What have you gotten yourself into?" she murmurs to herself in disbelief, wondering how things have gotten to be this way. She pushes herself up, sitting on the edge of the bed, deciding that she needs to get out of the room for a while and go to the library, do some studying and forgets things for a while in a place where nobody will bother her. Brittany grabs the nearest hooded sweater and puts it on, throwing her silky hair into a high ponytail and steps into a pair of flats before grabbing her backpack and leaving the room. She quickly walks down the hall with her eyes down, feeling a sense of relief flood through her as she reaches the library. The tall blonde walks to the most hidden away table, jumping back in panic when she collides with another person.

"Sorry that was my fault, I really should look where...oh" Rachel trails off she looks up and realises who she walked into. "Sorry Brittany" she murmurs, frowning as she takes in the blonde's appearance, the tired and nervous looking face marred with dry tear tracks. "Are you okay?" she asks quietly.

"I'm fine" Brittany replies, too quickly for the diva's liking. "I'm tired" she adds before brushing past the smaller girl and continuing her way to the table, dumping her bag down and pulling out an essay that she needed to complete as she slumps into the chair. Aware of the deep brown eyes watching her, she keeps her gaze locked on the piece of paper, willing Rachel to go, knowing that her ex knows her too well and would get suspicious if she was around her too much. A sigh of relief escapes her lips as she watches the brunette leave the library out of the corner of her eye, trying her hardest to focus on the task at hand and failing miserably.

0-00-0

Santana lets out a groan of frustration as she slams her bio-chem textbook closed, throwing it on the bed and placing her head down onto the desk. She hates being on restriction, not allowed to do anything apart from study and go to classes. The latina feels herself going a little stir crazy at being trapped inside all of the time. She checks her watch and realises that Rachel or Quinn won't be back for another hour or so, wondering if it is worth the risk to run to work and buy a coffee and chat to her co-workers for a little while.

"It's still on campus" she mumbles to herself, mostly trying to convince herself that it would be alright for her to do so, thinking that buying coffee is related to studying since it would keep her awake and allow more class work to be done. Santana smirks to herself as she stands up and grabs her wallet, feeling like a genius for finding a loop-hole. Stealthily, the tanned girl makes her way down the halls of the dorm block, cautiously keeping an eye out for one of her girlfriends, grimacing when she spots Nathan standing outside Quinn and Brittany's room, banging on the door.

"Where is she?" Nathan demands as he notices Santana, "Where's Brittany?"

"How the hell would I know asshole? She's your girlfriend, not mine" the latina snaps, glaring at the much taller man when he steps in front of her, blocking her way. "Move it Sasquatch!" Santana spits out, hiding the fact that she feels intimidated by the furious looking man.

"You should mind how you talk to me" he sneers as he looks down at her, "If you see Brittany, tell her I'm looking for her" Nathan adds, storming away as Santana rolls her eyes and follows him towards the building's exit, keeping a small distance between them. The brunette makes it to the campus coffee shop without being spotted and her confusion over her encounter with Nathan disappears as she relishes the small victory. Alex, one of her co-workers, motions for Santana to go through to the staff room rather than wait in the small queue.

"Thanks Alex" she smiles a the blonde man as he brings her usual coffee order into the staff room and hands it to her.

"No problem, how's studying going?" he asks, casually leaning in the doorframe to keep an eye on the front of the shop.

"Ugh, not well. I needed a break, I'm actually looking forward to my shifts here this weekend" she smirks and Alex chuckles, looking over his shoulder as he hears the bell above the door chime.

"Hey Rachel, come on through" he states kindly while Santana's stomach drops. The diva's eyes widen as she sees the latina, schooling her features quickly to smile at Alex. "What can I get you?"

"Just a black coffee please" Rachel answers politely, turning to look at Santana when Alex leaves to make her coffee. "I must admit, I'm very surprised to see you here" the smaller brunette says icily. "Quinn didn't mention anything about your restriction being over"

"I was just grabbing a coffee babe, need to keep my energy levels up" Santana responds nervously, realising her so called 'genius' loop-hole isn't actually a loop-hole, just a plain old rule break. "I'll uh, walk back to the room with you"

"Yes, I think that would be best" Rachel states firmly, shaking her head at her girlfriend. "Thanks Alex" she smiles as she takes her coffee from the man, "We'd better get going, we need to meet Quinn" the girl adds, shooting her girlfriend a meaningful look.

**Alright guys, let me know what you think :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**I do not own Glee or any of the original Glee characters, it all belongs to RIB and Fox. Anyone you don't recognise are my own creations.**

**Thank you for all the reviews and PMs for this fic, I really appreciate it.**

**For my reviewers :)**

Chapter 11

Rachel sighs as she and Santana walk hand in hand back to the dorm block, she glances at the latina out of the corner of her eye, noticing the contrite look on her face. The diva thinks about telling her about seeing Brittany looking upset in the library but she decides to keep it to herself, knowing her girlfriends are still very fragile and she doesn't want to upset them by talking about the one subject that they agreed not to talk about. Rachel feels Santana tense up and looks in the direction that the latina is, spotting Quinn walking towards them from across the quad.

"I just got your text" Quinn states, kissing Rachel on the lips and raising an eyebrow in the latina's direction.

"I have a class so I will see you both later" Rachel replies, pecking Santana on the cheek, unable to not kiss her goodbye, even if she is mad at her. Quinn takes the hand that Rachel drops and leads Santana back to the dorm block in silence, stopping outside her room and unlocking the door. She enters the room, barely glancing at Brittany who is laying on her bed looking miserable while Santana hovers awkwardly in the doorway, her eyes landing on the hole in the wall. She realises that it must have been Nathan after witnessing howfurious he was earlier but doesn't put too much thought into it, focusing instead on what could happen when she and Quinn go to her room. Brittany watches as Quinn pulls a bag from the closet, recognising it straight away and looking over at a clearly nervous Santana. The dancer feels sadness build inside her as she realises what's about to happen and she has to force herself not to ask either of the girls what happened, knowing that is no longer her buisness. Her clear blue eyes widen as Nathan appears in the doorway, brushing passed the latina who is scowling at him and sitting on the edge of Brittany's bed.

"Next time you're in a bad mood, take it out on your own wall" Quinn snaps at him as she slings the bag over her shoulder.

"I apologise Quinn, I will, of course, pay for the repairs. It won't happen again" Nathan responds politely, "I'm just here to spend some time with Brittany" he adds with a smile, placing his hand on his girlfriend's knee, the blonde forcing a smile to her face but not knowing why she does so. Quinn nods, making her way from the room and leading Santana to the other room.

"Nathan..I" Brittany starts, faltering as he turns to look at her, his emerald eyes full of guilt.

"I'm so sorry babe, I don't know what came over me. I swear to you I never meant to hurt you, please forgive me Brittany" he begs, gently taking a hold of the dancer's bruised wrist. Brittany searches his face, finding nothing but guilt and desperation on his handsome features and she finds herself nodding, accepting his apology and allowing him to pull her into a hug. "Thank you so much, I'll make it up to, I swear" Nathan murmurs into her ear as he rubs his hand up and down her back.

-0-00-0

Quinn throws the bag down onto the bed and sits down on the desk chair, motioning for Santana to sit down on the bed and faces her. The latina slumps down, folding her arms and pouting, looking a lot like a petulant child and confusing Quinn who hadn't seen this look on Santana's face for a long time.

"What restrictions did I give you for running off?" the blonde questions.

"Stay in the room and only leave if it's for school work" Santana mutters, "Which is what I did" she adds under her breath, Quinn leaning forward and swatting the top of the latina's thigh.

"Whatever you have to say, you can say it to my face and not mumbling under your breath" she scolds, her hazel eyes flashing as she leans back in the chair. "You left to go and get coffee, despite the fact that Rachel has a coffee maker here. You knew that by leaving you were breaking the rules of your punishment, what would have happened if Rachel hadn't caught you? Would you have hidden it from us?" Quinn questions, keeping her glare focused on Santana whose petulance is quickly fading.

"I never really thought about what I would do after it" Santana responds honestly. "I thought...I don't know, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I can't just stare at the walls all day when I don't have any classes, I was going crazy in here"

"Well you were being punished Santana, it wasn't supposed to be fun. It would have been over with in a few days but now you've made things worse for yourself. Go stand in the corner until Rachel comes back, from now on everyone will be present during punishments. No-one is going to be left out" Quinn states, watching as Santana shuffles to the empty corner, positioning herself so that her nose is an inch away from the wall, her hands clasped behing her back. The blonde frowns as she hears one of Santana and Rachel's neighbours arguing with someone in the room next door, hearing almost every word. She sighs, knowing there is no way she'd be able to carry out the latina's punishment without being overheard. Pulling her cell out of her pocket, she sends Rachel a quick text, hoping that she has her cell on and places it on the desk to wait for a response. The blonde watches the brunette in the corner, rolling her eyes at how quickly Santana gets restless, already shifting from one foot to the other. "Stand Still" she orders sternly, picking up her cell when it beeps and smirking at Rachel's reply, deciding that the diva is a genius. She fires off a quick response and lets the latina stew in the corner for a few more minutes, admiring her backside in her skin tight jeans. "Alright San, I want you to pack an overnight bag"

"Why?" the latina asks, her brow furrowing as she turns around to face her girlfriend.

"Because we can't do this here so pack a bag and be back in the corner by the time I come back" the blonde tells her, leaving the room to go pack her own bag. Santana makes quick work of tipping out her backpack and throwing some clothes into it, making sure to pack her loosest pair of sweatpants to wear after her punishment. She sighs, cursing herself for her earlier stupidity and goes back to the corner to wait for Quinn to return.

**Drop me a review to let me know what you think :) thanks for reading!**


	12. Chapter 12

**I do not own Glee or any of the original characters, it all belongs to RIB and Fox. Anyone you don't recognise are my own creations.**

**Thank you for all the great reviews and PMs regarding this fic, I'm glad you guys are still enjoying it :)**

Chapter 12

Santana scowls as she sits in the back seat of the car, unimpressed that Rachel is sitting in the front passenger seat, even though the diva needs much less leg room than her. She glares out of the window, muttering under her breath in spanish and wishing she knew what was going on. The latina lifts her leg up on to the seat, tucking it under the other one, kicking the back of Rachel's seat in the process.

"Sorry" she mutters, not meaning it in the slightest, both girls in the front seat realising this. She lets out a loud sigh, looking back out of the window and growing more confused as the various stores and houses turn into fields and trees. "Where are we going?" she asks, her curiosity becoming strong enough to pull her from her sulking.

"Somewhere I can punish you without being disturbed" Quinn replies in a clipped tone, growing more annoyed by Santana's petulant behaviour and questioning by the second. She eyes the latina in the rear view mirror, warning her with a glare before turning her attention back to the road. "Next left?" she asks Rachel, the diva replying with a simple nod. Santana cranes her neck to try and see what's ahead, her stomach dropping as she spots a dingy motel at the side of the road. Quinn rolls the car to a stop in the small parking lot beside the reception building.

"I'll go get the keys" Rachel states, "I called in advance" she adds for the pouting latina's benefit before slipping out of the car. Santana sinks back in her seat, staring out of the window to avoid looking at her still pissed off girlfriend, despite the fact that she can feel the blonde's gaze on two girls sit in silence while they wait for the diva to return, Quinn still too angry with Santana to talk to her and the latina's pride stopping her from admitting that she feels bad for breaking her restriction. Rain starts to drip from the clouds as Rachel quickly walks back to the car, heading straight for the trunk, Quinn motioning for Santana to follow her out of the car. The Latina remains silent as she grabs her overnight bag from the trunk and follows her girlfriends to the motel room at the furthest end."I paid for the room next door too so we should have complete privacy, even if more guests turn up" Rachel tells them as she unlocks the wrinkles her nose in distaste as she takes in her surroundings, the old fashioned wallpaper, the ancient flowery curtains and the chipped paint on the bathroom door.

"At least it's clean" she murmurs to herself.

"And has a lot more privacy than the dorm does" Rachel adds, the blonde nodding in agreement.

"Sit down" the blonde orders Santana firmly, pointing to the chair tucked underneath the desk that is pushed up against the wall. The latina lets out a low sigh, trying to mentally prepare herself as she shuffles over to the chair, pulling it out from under the desk and slumping down on to it. Her dark eyes flit around the room, catching Rachel's gaze and her small smile of reassurance. The smile comforts her slightly but not enough to settle the army of butterflies in her stomach. She watches as Quinn unpacks her bag, pulling out the latina's pajamas and setting them on the desk next to her, her pale hand brushing Santana's shoulder as she moves back to the bed, unzipping her own bag. Rachel sits on the edge of the double bed, facing the latina and waiting for Quinn to join her. The blonde pulls her hairbrush from the bag, Santana's heart starting to thump in her chest as eyes the implement that has brought to her to tears many times in the past. The leather strap causes the air to leave her lungs as it's pulled from the bag and set onto the bed, tears already filling her eyes as she stares at it. "Alright, Rachel you want to start?" Quinn asks as she sits next to the diva.

"Do you know why we put you on restriction Santana?" the small brunette asks softly, her gaze gentle as she studies the latina in front of her.

"Well..Yeah, I ran away and let you guys worry about me" the tanned girl responds, frowning in confusion, "We've already spoken about that...I know why I was on restriction"

"That was the reason for punishment, What I mean is, Do you know why we chose that punishment?" Santana shakes her head in the negative, her eyes darting between her two girlfriends. "Do you remember back in high school, when Quinn broke one of her own rules by getting detention after she spanked Brittany for the same thing?" Rachel waits for the other brunette's nod before she continues. "By running off, you broke your own rule, something that you spanked me for recently. You were a mess when you ran off, a lot of that was our fault, we had been so caught up in our own feelings of abandonment that we didn't see through your act of pretending to be ok" Rachel sighs, brushing an escaped tear away from her face as Quinn's arms snakes around her waist in a bid to comfort her.

"No... Rach, I should have told you how I was feeling..." Santana begins, guilt radiating from her, Rachel's raised hand stopping her from continuing.

"I'm not telling you this to drag things up, I need to explain everything. Please let me do that" The diva murmurs, huge brown eyes pleading with her girlfriend. "Even when you came back, you were so broken..almost as if all the strengh you usually have left your body with all the tears. Your breakdown surprised us, even though we should have expected it and it shocked us, made us realise that we hadn't been looking out for you in the same way that you've always looked out for us, since the beginning of our relationship" Rachel shakily exhales, looking over at Quinn, who nods, clearing her throat and thinking of the right words.

"We had a long talk while you were sleeping, sort of re-evaluated ourselves, promising ourselves to be better. We discussed your punishment, deciding that spanking you would do more harm than good at the time, putting you on restriction meant that we could punish you and keep an eye on you at the same time. You've been different, even today. You seemed angry on the way here, almost justified..as if you'd been successful" Hazel eyes study the tanned beauty sitting opposite her, not missing Santana's small nod.

"I thought you were still mad" the latina whispers, "I thought you didn't spank me because you couldn't offer me forgiveness" Tears fall from dark chocolate eyes as she stares at the floor. She doesn't realise Quinn has moved until she feels the warm hand on her arm, gently pulling her to her feet and guiding her to sit on the bed, between her two girlfriends.

"But honey, we don't always use spankings, we use other punishments too" Rachel murmurs.

"Not for running away from problems, it's always been spanking...no matter the circumstances!" the latina exclaims, closing her mouth as the memory of a past punishment enters her mind. "Apart from when we were on spring break at the beach house" she mutters, remembering that she wasn't physically punished for running away after finding out about Quinn cheating.

"We use spankings when the circumstances require it, not when a specific rule is broken" Quinn tells her, brushing raven hair away from her girlfriend's face. "We put you on restriction because it fitted the circumstances and your state of mind better, not because we were mad and not ready to forgive you. I'm sorry that we didn't explain that fully sweetheart, we love you so much and we will always forgive you and I promise to always explain punishments more fully in future" she murmurs, pressing a soft kiss to Santana's forehead. "Did you break your restriction to purposely get yourself spanked?" The latina nods, ducking her head in embarrassment.

"I felt different this time, I didn't feel like it was over with. i thought a spanking would change that. Can you still do it?" The tanned girl asks in a small voice, her eyes wide as she looks at Quinn pleadingly.

"Yes. To help you and to also punish you for breaking restriction" Quinn states. "Promise me in future, you will always come to us. We're not going anywhere, never." Santana nods, laying her head on the blonde's shoulder and wiping the tears from her eyes, Quinn and Rachel wrapping their arms around her.

**Drop me a review to let me know what you think. The next chapter will move things forward and you'll find out more about Brittany's situation. **


	13. Chapter 13

_**I do not own Glee or any of the original characters, it all belongs to RIB and Fox. Anyone you don't recognise are my own creations.**_

_**Thank you for your reviews for this fic and for your patience while waiting for me to update it :)**_

Chapter 13

Quinn wanders out of the bathroom, wrapped only in a towel and looks over at Santana who is sitting quietly on the bed and channel surfing. The Latina offers Rachel a small smile when the diva kisses her cheek before heading to the bathroom to take a shower. Quinn sits down on the edge of the bed, watching Santana carefully, brown eyes raising to gaze back at her curiously. The girl goes back to channel surfing, rolling her eyes when she can't find anything decent to watch. The sound of the shower starting fills the room, Rachel's melodic voice soon following.

"Why is Rachel a part of the punishment?" the Latina asks suddenly, surprising Quinn.

"What do you mean?" the blonde asks. " I told you, from now on everyone will be present for punishments" she explains.

"Isn't that something that I should have a say in?" Santana demands in a low voice.

"San, you asked to be spanked. Even before you literally asked your behaviour had been doing it for you" Quinn scolds.

"It's just something she said tonight, she said 'we' decided to put you on restriction. I don't remember discussing Rachel having a say in how I'm punished and if I'm being honest, I'm not okay with it" The Latina states simply. "She took the lead earlier. I don't see Rachel in that way and I don't want to, it doesn't mean I love her any less than I love you, it's just how it is" she adds, glancing over at Quinn's unreadable expression.

"You don't want Rachel to see you being punished?" the blonde questions.

"I don't want her to take part" Santana corrects her. "You are the only person that gets to do that as far as I'm concerned. I'm uncomfortable with anyone else being in the room when you spank me and you probably think I'm being unreasonable but that's how I see it" Santana explains to her, "you told me that I should always come to you" she adds in a small voice.

"Okay" Quinn replies simply as they hear the water stop running and she stands up. "We'll talk to Rachel and discuss everything" she says, surprising Santana who had expected this to go a little differently. The blonde starts to rummage through her bag, pulling out some underwear, a pair of sweatpants and a t'shirt. The girls are silent while Quinn gets dressed, Quinn thinking about what Santana said to her and the latina wondering if she should have just left it alone and just gotten the spanking over with and put the whole situation behind them. Santana doesn't speak when Rachel emerges from the bathroom, brushing passed her and closing the bathroom door behind her.

0-00-0

Brittany shudders at the feeling of the large sweaty body laying over her, the smell of his cologne invading her senses, a smell she used to love but now only induced fear in her. She listens to Nathan's light snores, tears burning behind her eye lids as she eases herself out from under his naked form and shuffles to the door, grabbing a towel and her bag on the way and quietly leaving the room. The dancer feels herself calm slightly as she reaches the shower block, slipping into one of the stalls and closing the door, locking it straight away. Gazing into the mirror on the back of the door, she barely recognises the face staring back at her. Sparkling, cheerful blue eyes are now dull and lifeless, dark circles underneath them giving away the fact that she barely sleeps now, truth is she hasn't slept properly since she left the other girls. She strips off her clothes and places them and her bag into the small storage compartment and turns the shower on, immediately lathering herself up with shower gel and scrubbing at her skin, desperately trying to wash Nathan from her body.

"Babe? You in here?" Brittany freezes as she hears his voice echo around the room, staying silent and thanking whoever is listening that there isn't a gap at the bottom or at the top of the stall door. She sighs with relief as she hears the door close again, listening carefully in case he comes back as she lathers shampoo into her hair, no longer singing in the shower like she used to. Her eyes burn with the tears she holds back, the lump in her throat almost choking her as she attempts to swallow it, knowing she has made the biggest mistake of her life. Brittany stands underneath the spray of water until it grows cold, turning it off and quickly towelling herself dry and putting on some fresh clothes. Her breath catches in her throat as she opens the door to find Nathan leaning against the wall, his furious eyes boring into her. "I asked if you were in here" he snaps and she fights her urge to run, knowing it would make things worse.

"I didn't hear you" she murmurs, eyes downcast. "I'm sorry" the blonde adds and her boyfriend laughs bitterly.

"Yes you did. Why else would you have looked so guilty when you saw me?" Nathan asks, approaching her slowly, a dangerous gleam in his emerald eyes. "Are you avoiding me?" he spits out.

"No, I just needed some time to my.." her words are cut off when Nathan's open hand crashes into her cheek, the room spinning as she throws out a hand to grab the shower door to steady herself. Her face throbs as she breathes heavily, fighting the need to throw up, pushing herself backwards, trying to put as much space between her and Nathan as she can.

"Do not fucking lie to me" the man hisses, glaring down at the terrified blonde, his fists clenched at his side.

"I'm sorry" Brittany sobs at him, wincing when Nathan grips her upper arm, his hand like a vice around her porcelain skin.

"Another lie" he snaps, pushing her roughly against the wall, pain erupting in her hip when it smashes against the corner of the wall. "You're pathetic" he mutters in disgust, storming from the room and slamming the door behind him. Brittany waits until she knows he is defintely gone, forcing herself not to not to break down, not here. She grabs her things and makes her way from the shower block, trying to ignore the searing pain in her hip as she limps along the halls, glad that they are deserted and she doesn't have to explain the state she's in to anyone. Relief flows through her as she reaches her dorm room, quickly unlocking the door and rushing inside, instantly locking the door behind her. Brittany leans against the door, her face crumpling as she slides down to the floor, the pain in her face and hip causing more tears to stream down her face as she sobs against the door. She crawls over to her bed and rummages around in the sheets until she finds her cell phone that she had left here a few hours ago, just after Quinn and the others had left and Nathan had convinced her to forgive him. Scrolling down her cell-phone, her finger hovers over a familiar number, internally debating whether or not to press call. Sighing she presses call and holds the phone to her ear while it rings.

**Drop me a review to let me know what you think :) Don't worry, the problem between Santana, Quinn and Rachel will be resolved in the next chapter, it's already planned out. Thanks for reading.**


	14. Chapter 14

_**I do not own Glee or any of the original characters, it all belongs to RIB and Fox. Anyone you don't recognise are my own creations.**_

_**The reviews for the last chapter blew my mind! Thank you all so much and I hope this chapter is a worthy follow-up. R&R please :)**_

Chapter 14

Quinn gives Rachel a small smile as the diva leaves the motel room to go find them all some snacks, promising to be quick and get back before Santana is out of the shower. The blonde slumps onto the bed with a sigh, wondering how this chat would go down, knowing that if they aren't careful with their words Rachel would get upset and the last thing they all needed is for more problems to appear in their relationship. She looks over at the desk where Santana's cell phone is vibrating across the surface and chooses to ignore it and leave it for her girlfriend to check once she's finished in the bathroom. Quinn frowns as the cell starts to vibrate again, and she pushes herself up from the bed, deciding to at least see who it is. Her eyes widen as Brittany's name flashes up on the screen and she rolls her eyes before pressing ignore and walking back to the bed and collapsing back onto it. She needs this day to hurry up and be over but there's still so much that needed to be sorted it, she really didn't need to deal with their ex girlfriend right now. She groans in dismay as the vibrating starts for a third time and she storms over to it just as Santana comes out of the bathroom, towelling her hair dry and already in her pajamas.

"Here" Quinn states, thrusting the cell phone in the confused latina's hand. "It's Brittany, it's the third time she's called in the last five minutes" she adds, sitting back down on the bed. Santana frowns as she accepts the call and places the phone to her ear, not even having a chance to say hello before Brittany's distressed voice starts begging her for help.

"Ok, Brittany you have to slow down" Santana tells her, glancing over at Quinn with concern in her eyes. Quinn watches her latina curiously as a myriad of emotions crosses her girlfriend's face, recognising the look of sheer rage that finally settles there and knows that whatever is going on, it's as serious as it can get. "I'm on my way" Santana promises the sobbing girl on the other end of the line before hanging up. "We have to go get Brittany" she informs Quinn, the blonde's eyebrows shooting skywards.

"Don't you think we have some things to sort out before we go anywhere?" Quinn asks with a pointed look, the rest of her argument trailing off as she sees the dark look on the latina's face, her girlfriend angrier than she has ever seen her. "What's going on?" she asks softly, knowing the only way to gain any communication with Santana is to calm her down first. "Hey" she says, pulling the latina to her and wrapping her arms around her, her hand rubbing her back soothingly. Quinn starts to panic as she feels her girlfriend shaking with her anger and she pulls back to see fire in her dark eyes. Grasping Santana's shoulders, her hazel eyes boring into Santana's as she holds the furious latina in place. "You need to calm down" she states firmly.

"He hit her" Santana spits out, shocking the blonde is front of her. "She may not be our girlfriend anymore but I'm not abandoning her right now!" the latina adds in an almost hiss.

"Get dressed" Quinn states simply, her hands dropping from the other girl's shoulders as she moves to the bed and starts pulling clothes from her rucksack, quickly shedding her pajamas off and replacing them with a pair of sweatpants and a hooded sweatshirt while Santana changes back into the clothes she was wearing before her shower and ties her still wet hair in a loose ponytail. The blonde can feel her own anger radiating inside of her but knows she needs to stay calm in order to keep an eye on Santana, the dangerous look in the latina's eyes almost scaring her.

0-00-0

Quinn catches Santana's arm as the latina opens the driver's side door to the car, no way is she going to let her drive when she is this angry. Dark eyes bore into hazel for a moment before the hispanic girl relents and climbs into the back seat as Quinn hands the car keys to Rachel, not even trusting herself to drive safely right now.

"We'll bring her back here" the blonde states as she settles herself in the front passenger seat, Rachel nodding as she places the key into the ignition and starts the car. She forces herself not to think about what state they'll find Brittany in when they get back to college and focuses solely on getting them there quickly and safely. Quinn glances behind her, growing more wary at the sight of Santana's set jaw and fiery eyes and she drops her hand down behind the centre console, feeling a little better when she feels the latina's warm hand wrap around hers. The ride back to college is filled with the most intense silence either girl has ever endured, all three of them too angry and worried to speak. Santana drops Quinn's hand when her cell phone buzzes, signalling a message and she grabs it from it's place on the seat beside her. She can't help but feel relieved when she sees it's just from one of her class-mates, asking about the due date of an assignment. Throwing her cell back down, she sinks back in the seat, trying her hardest to calm herself down, the thought of Nathan hurting Brittany only resulting in her anger rising. The latina thinks back to high school, their freshman year when she and Brittany had first met, the innocent blue eyes were the first thing to draw Santana in, her sensitive nature and kindness were what made Brittany her first love. She loves Quinn and Rachel just as much as she loves Brittany but that's what bothers her, the feeling of betrayal that comes with loving someone that isn't in your relationship.

"San" Rachel's soft voice brings Santana out of her thoughts and she realises that they're in the parking lot of UCLA. "Are you alright?" the diva asks gently.

"I'll be fine when we get to Brittany" the latina replies, unbuckling her seatbelt and jumping out of the car, her girlfriends quickly following her as she storms across the parking lot, heading straight to the accommodation block. Quinn grabs Rachel's hand when she notices the diva having to jog to keep up with them, pulling her along with them.

"Santana" Quinn calls after the girl that is striding ahead of them, the latina ignoring her. "Santana!" she repeats sharply, the raven haired girl spin around as she recognise the tone that Quinn usually saves for when one of them is stepping out of line.

"What?" the latina screams back at her, shocking herself along with her girlfriends. "We need to get to her, I know you want me to calm down but I can't fucking do that" she yells at them, "Not until I get to her" Santana adds softly, guilt building inside her for the way she is speaking to the other girls, knowing they are only trying to help. Sighing, she turns on her heel and cuts across the grass, ignoring the sign that prohibited it and continues marching to the dorms. She can sense her girlfriends behind her as she reaches the building and she feels Quinn take her hand, the blonde knowing she needs to keep a hold on her just in case they bump into Nathan, not trusting the latina's temper to not overpower her. They walk through the quiet halls, most people either still at the library or already out starting their weekend of partying. Rachel's chocolate eyes dart around, terrified of seeing Nathan and half expecting him to jump out of one of the dorm rooms like some murderer in the many horror movies that Santana had forced her to watch. Quinn senses the diva's nerves and she loops her arm around the smaller girl's waist, her other hand still grasping onto Santana firmly. The latina doesn't break her stride, pretty much dragging her girlfriends along with her as Quinn battles to keep the furious girl in her grasp.

"Thank god" Quinn murmurs to herself as they reach her and Brittany's dorm room, the blonde letting go of her girlfriends as she pulls the key from her pocket and unlocks the door, Santana pushing passed her as soon as the door is open.

"Britt" the latina calls out, confused and beginning to panic as they look around the empty room, her eyes locking onto the ajar closet door and she slowly approaches the door and pulls it open. She feels her heart break in half as she takes in the beaten blonde sitting on the floor with her knees pulled up to her chest. "Hey" she whispers, kneeling down and crawling over to Brittany, the dancer immediately bursting into tears and burying herself in Santana's embrace and sobbing into the latina's neck as her warm, protective arms wrap tighten around her. Rachel gasps as she approaches the closet, tears filling her eyes at the sight of the ugly bruise forming on their ex girlfriend's face, noticing a small spot of blood in the middle of it. Santana looks up at the diva and follows her line of sight, a lump forming in her throat. "You're bleeding" the latina murmurs.

"His ring" Brittany chokes out, flinching when accidentally leans against a stack of shoeboxes and they tumble to the floor with a thump.

"Sorry" Quinn whispers, cursing herself for scaring the other blonde. "Come on, we'll get you out of here" she adds, tentively reaching out and gently taking a hold of one of Brittany's arms and she and Santana help the tall girl stand up. The injured girl cries out as she straightens up, her hand shooting down to her hip. Bile rises in Rachel's throat when she sees the darkening hip of her ex girlfriend, her eyes locking with Quinn's and they make a silent agreement to get her to the car and away from this place quickly. Santana keeps her arms wrapped around Brittany as they walk her to Rachel's car, all of them keeping their eyes peeled on their surroundings. Quinn freezes when they step out onto the quad, noticing Nathan and a group of his friends making their way out of the college grounds, all of them joking around and laughing loudly and she prays that Santana doesn't see them, her heart stopping when she sees the latina's eyes lock onto Nathan's back as she urges Brittany into Rachel's arms and takes off running across the quad. Quinn chases after her, managing to grab her when she's just yards away from the group of teenage men. "No" the blonde states firmly, "Do not do this" she pleads.

"Let go of my arm" Santana demands and Quinn realises just how much the latina's anger has taken over in that moment.

"If you go over there, I will spank you every goddamn night of the week" the blonde tells her in a hushed voice. She's clutching at straws here, saying anything just to stop the latina and Santana knows this too, also knowing that her girlfriend can't overpower her as she pulls away, storming over to Nathan and his friends, Quinn desperately chasing after her.

"Santana..What are.." Nathan's surprised words are cut off as a resounding smack echoes in the night air, the man clutching his face. She ignores the cries of protest from his friends as she stares up at him, a dangerous glint in her dark eyes.

"If you ever lay one finger on her again, I will kill you" she hisses at him, her body shaking with anger as Quinn catches up to her and tries to pull her away.

"I don't know what you're talking about" Nathan protests, a cry of pain leaving his mouth as Santana's open hand slaps him again, the man's friends jumping forward and pulling her backwards.

"Do not fucking lie!" the latina screams at him. "Be a fucking man and tell your buddies what you did" her struggles are futile as the men keep a firm hold on her. "Go on, tell them what a big man you are!" she yells as Nathan stares at her in shock, a red mark on his cheek where Santana slapped him. "What? You don't want them to know what you did?" the latina sneers at him.

"What is she talking about?" Quinn hears one of Nathan's friends ask him.

"He beat Brittany!" Santana spits and everyone around her falls silent, all of them looking at Nathan, waiting for the southern man to deny it, every single one of his friends praying that it isn't true.

"That's enough" Quinn tells her, moving to stand directly in front of her, gesturing for the men to let her go. "At this moment, you're acting as if you're no better than him" she states quietly, her hazel eyes searching the latina's dark ones, trying to find her Santana inside them. "What you're doing is reacting angrily with violence, that is what he did. This is not you" Quinn tells her, watching as the fight leaves her latina's eyes, her arms reactively catching Santana as she sinks to her knees, breathing heavily. "Get him out of here!" Quinn orders to the men, watching as they push their friend from the area. Santana can feel bile rising in her throat and Quinn rubs her back as the latina empties her stomach onto the grass. "It's ok, she's safe now" the blonde murmurs to her girlfriend as Rachel and Brittany slowly make their way over to them, both of them stopping a few yards away, unsure of what to do. Brittany's eyes glaze over as she watches Quinn help Santana to pull herself together, feeling the safest she has in a long time as Rachel keeps her arm firmly wrapped around her. It amazes her that, even after everything, they all still came through from her. She had known that the three of them would help her but she had figured that at most they would have gotten her out of here in an awkward silence, she didn't expect this, for all them, especially Santana to go to the lengths that they have. She watches with guilt filled eyes as Quinn helps the latina to stand, one hand around her arm and the other placed on her lower back. Santana's broken gaze meets Brittany's for a split second and the dancer knows she is dumb to have thought that no longer being in a relationship with her meant no longer having her protection.

"San, I..."

"Let's get you out of here" Santana interrupts bluntly, pulling herself from Quinn's arms and turning to walk back to the parking lot as she tries to sort out the myriad of emotions that are coursing through her body. The three other girls walk behind her, giving the latina the time she needs to herself, Quinn's frown firmly in place as she watches her retreating girlfriend try to make sense of things and she's wondering the same thing. What do they do now?

**Please drop me a review to let me know what you think. Thank you for reading.**


	15. Chapter 15

_**I do not own Glee or any of the original Glee characters, it all belongs to RIB and Fox. Anyone you don't recognise are my own creations.**_

_**Klmeire fans - I have a wager going on with her at the moment and she says that if this update gets 20 signed in reviews in 24 hours then she will update 'Behave!' within a week**_

_**A huge thank you to Stargirl888 for her help with this chapter, I couldn't have done it without her!**_

_**Thank you for all of your reviews and PMs regarding this fic, I really appreciate them!**_

Chapter 15

Quinn stares out of the window as Rachel drives them back to the motel, thinking about what she would say when they got back to their room. She knows that Santana can't get away with lashing out like she did but she wonders how the latina would take that, in her mind she dished out justice, probably not even thinking of how what she did to Nathan was the same thing he did to Brittany. She glances back at Santana and Brittany in the backseat, the dancer sleeping with her head on the raven haired girl's shoulder as the latter glares out of the window. Sighing, Quinn remembers what she said to the latina back while they were back on campus, what she had planned as an empty threat now felt like it should happen. Would Santana respect her if she didn't go through with it? Would she take future warnings seriously if she let this slide? The whole point of their arrangement is to give each other consequences for their reckless actions, to stop those actions from being repeated. She hears Santana coaxing Brittany to wake up as they pull into the parking lot of the motel and she glances at Rachel, the diva giving her a look as if to say, what now?

"Rach, have you got the key for the other room?" Santana asks as they get out of the car, the small brunette nodding and passing the key to her girlfriend.

"Thank you for coming to get me" Brittany tells them quietly, "I'll give you the money for the room" she adds.

"It's alright, it was already paid for anyway" Rachel smiles, the dancer nodding. "Will you be ok?" Brittany nods again, gesturing that she's going to the room and turns on her heel, limping across the parking lot. Quinn catches Santana's hand as the latina starts to follow her, a curious frown on her tanned face.

"I'm just going to make sure she's settled, we forgot to bring her clothes, she'll need to borrow something" Santana tells her.

"Ten minutes" Quinn states firmly.

"Come on Q, I think this is a little more important" the latina scoffs, attempting to walk after Brittany again, the blonde's hand stopping her again.

"We have a lot to talk about. Be back in our room in ten minutes, okay?" Quinn tells her sternly, waiting until the raven haired girl nods before removing her hand from her arm. She watches as Santana follows Brittany, feeling Rachel place her arm around her. The blonde smiles softly at the shorter girl, pressing a loving kiss to the diva's temple before leading her back to their motel room. Rachel studies Quinn as the blonde slumps onto the bed,The diva notices straight away that her girlfriend isn't telling her something and wonders if it's something more than what happened with Nathan. She knows Quinn well enough to know that she will tell her what's on her mind when she's ready to so she sits next to her, waiting in silence.

"When I tried to stop Santana from going after Nathan, I told her I would spank her every night for a week if she went after him" the blonde murmurs. "She did it anyway"

"Well, while we were all mad, Santana was furious, way passed the point of being reasoned with" Rachel responds. "It may have seemed worth it to her in that moment" she adds quietly, unsure of how Quinn may react.

"Or maybe she didn't take me seriously" the blonde counters and the diva sighs, contemplating things for a moment.

"I think San knows you well enough to know that you don't make idle threats but the only way of knowing is by asking her" Rachel tells her as she rubs her girlfriend's back soothingly. Quinn lets out a loud sigh, nodding in agreement with the diva.

0-00-0

Santana gives her girlfriends a weak smile as she walks into their room, the calmer she gets the more guilt she feels and seeing her girlfriend only adds to the guilt. She notices they are already changed back into their pajamas and she follows suit, sitting down on the desk chair and facing them once she's finished. The latina feels smaller under Quinn's intense scrutinising stare, seeing disappointment in the hazel eyes.

"I know I screwed up" Santana mumbles.

"You did" is Quinn's simple reply. The room falls back into silence for a few moments, no-one quite sure where to start. The blonde glances between her two girlfriends, realising they're both waiting for her. "Let's talk about what we were discussing while Rachel was in the shower before we go near what happened with Nathan" she sighs, noticing the curious look on Rachel's face. "Santana?" Quinn says, hinting for the latina to explain to Rachel.

"Well, Rach..I'm having trouble with how things went earlier" Santana sighs.

"What do you mean?" the diva asks in confusion. "You don't agree with the punishment?"

"It's not that" the hispanic girl murmurs, looking over at Quinn who gives her a small nod to continue and Santana sighs, trying to work out how to word it to Rachel, wanting to get her point across without upsetting her. "You know I love you, right? It's nothing to do with not loving you enough"

"San, you're kind of worrying me" Rachel replies nervously.

"I'm sorry, that's not what I'm trying to do" the latina states with a desperate glance at Quinn, the blonde nodding and turning to face Rachel.

"What Santana is trying to say is that she was uncomfortable with your involvement in the discussion about her punishment for breaking her restriction and how you were involved in the decision to put her on restriction in the first place without us actually discussing it with her" Quinn explains, seeing Rachel's face fall slightly.

"I've never viewed you like that Rach" Santana says gently, "I've only ever viewed Quinn as the person to punish me for things and tonight I felt like you had kinda initiated yourself as someone was without talking to me about it. You told me that you were comfortable with me and Quinn both punishing you and Brittany too, when she was with us but I've never been like that, out relationship has never been like that. It doesn't mean I love you any less than I love Quinn but I'm not comfortable with you being a part of my punishment. I think you have the right to be present when it's happening when I've done something that affects you but when I break a rule and get like, detention or something then I'd prefer it if it was only Quinn that was with me. Just like If Quinn is spanking you for something then you'd have the choice of me not being in the room" the latina finishes, watching Rachel's face for understanding.

"I remember back in high school, Brittany told me that it would only ever be Quinn who could be that person for you. I guess I never really realised how you would see it if I was involved. I didn't mean for it to be that way, I was only trying to be a source of comfort to you by being here tonight, I wasn't assuming to be a part of your spanking" Rachel explains.

"I'm sorry" Santana whispers, mistaking her girlfriend's upset expression as her fault.

"No, don't apologise honey. I'm upset with myself, I know it's hard for you to submit, I just didn't think how you would take my presence. "I'm sorry San, I can go sit with Brittany while Quinn spanks you" Rachel tells her kindly.

"You should stay for it" the Latina whispers, "This rule break does affect you" she adds.

"Are you sure?" the petite brunette asks.

"Yeah, I'm sure" Santana confirms sincerely, looking over at the unreadable expression on Quinn's face, the blonde making eye contact with her but staying silent, choosing to study the latina for a few minutes while she settles her own nerves about the next part of the discussion, unsure of how her girlfriend will react. Rachel watches the blonde's face, noticing the internal battle going on and she places her hand onto the girl's arm, squeezing gently and reassuringly. Quinn sends the diva a grateful smile before turning her gaze back to Santana, her features schooled and firm.

"You know that you should not have slapped Nathan, right?" the blonde asks, watching the latina's face fall with the realisation that Quinn isn't going to drop it.

"I know" Santana mumurs, "I just got so damn angry, Brittany may not be our girlfriend anymore but I still want to protect her" she adds honestly. "Just so angry" she repeats quietly, her girlfriends nodding.

"Too angry" Quinn states, Santana's dark eyes lifting to gaze back at her. "That's why I tried to stop you" she adds with a meaningful look. "I told you I would spank you every night for a week if you went after Nathan. You ignored me, did you think I was kidding?" the blonde asks, genuinely curious, her hazel eyes searching the latina's face, watching as she struggles with her thoughts.

"I didn't really care what happened to me, at the moment I was only concerned with getting some sort of revenge on Nathan" Santana admits, "To be honest, I didn't really think about it but at the back of my mind I knew that you wouldn't say it unless you meant it but I wasn't worrying about myself right then"

"We've discussed your temper several times in the past Santana, you've probably been punished more for losing your temper, and taking it out on people around you, than you have been for everything else combined. Despite knowing what the consequences would be, you still hit Nathan..twice. What you did to him was the same as what he did to Brittany" Quinn tells her, hazel eyes boring into her.

"Don't you dare Quinn" Santana responds in a low and dangerous voice. "I am not like him, do not compare me to that fucking pig" she spits.

"No, you're not like him but your actions tonight were like his. You both got mad and lashed out. You, unlike him, had a valid reason to be pissed off but that doesn't make it ok for you to attack him" Quinn verifies. "I'm not saying you're like him, you are a wonderful girlfriend who protects us and loves us, only your actions tonight were similar. That's all" the blonde adds. Santana sighs, her sudden anger deflating, her arms unfolding and she rests her hands in her lap while glancing nervously at her girlfriend.

"So, you're going to spank me every night for a week?" the Latina asks softly, her stomach twisting into knots.

"Can you honestly tell me that you'd respect me for going back on my warning?" The blonde asks seriously, the Latina sighing and looking down at her clasped hands.

"No, I wouldn't" she whispers.

"I understand that it will be an intense week, I won't take it easier on you as the week goes on, each spanking will be the same severity. I'm going to give you a choice in your punishment, you can either accept the spankings or you can be on restriction for a month" Quinn tells her. "Bear in mind, that no matter which one you choose you will still receive the spanking you earned for breaking your restriction" she adds softly, realising this is a hard decision for her girlfriend to make. Santana sighs as she contemplates her options, restriction for a month sounded like complete hell, she struggled after being on restriction for a few days, this is why they are in the motel now but a spanking every night for a week sounded even worse. She trusts Quinn to not take it too far, knows it wouldn't be abusive and that it will be within her limits but one spanking took it out of her, could she honestly handle one every night? "The week long spanking wouldn't start until tomorrow but you will be still be getting punished for breaking your restriction tonight" Quinn states. "You can sleep on it and let me know your decision tomorrow"

"Okay" Santana whispers. She looks over at her girlfriend, waiting for some sort of instruction, Quinn sensing this and giving her a small nod.

"Go stand in the corner until I'm ready to start your punishment" Quinn orders firmly, watching as the latina rushes to comply, her eyes never leaving Santana's back as she wonders what the girl will choose. She forces herself to solely focus on tonight's punishment, sinking into Rachel's embrace when the diva opens her arms to her, seeking her own comfort as she prepares to punish their girlfriend.

**Drop me a review to let me know what you think. Remember, 20 signed in reviews in 24 hours will ensure an update from Klmeire within a week :) Thank you for reading :)**


	16. Chapter 16

_**I do not own Glee or any of the original characters, it all belongs to RIB and Fox. Anyone you don't recognise are my own creations.**_

_**The amount of reviews for the last chapter was ridiculously awesome, I didn't realise just how many of you read this, Thank you!**_

_**Sorry about the wait. R&R please :)**_

Chapter 16

Her stomach ties itself into knots as she stands in the corner, her nose inches from the wall and her hands clasped behind her back. Santana's heart thumps erratically in her chest as she wrings her clammy hands nervously, both dreading her punishment and desperate for it to be over with, tonight's one at least. She can hear movement and her heart rate picks up, assuming her spanking is about to start, calming when she recognises the scent of Rachel's perfume and hears the bathroom door click shut. The Latina can feel Quinn's eyes on her, her backside clenching involuntarily in anticipation and she shifts uncomfortably.

"Stand still Santana" Quinn orders firmly, hazel eyes gazing at the latina, knowing her girlfriend will sense her eyes being on her. The blonde sighs, standing up and grabbing the hairbrush, walking over the desk and pulling the chair into the middle of the room before sitting down on it. She waits until Rachel comes back out of the bathroom and situates herself onto the bed before she clears her throat and calls out to the Latina in the corner. "Santana, come here please" she requests in a stern voice. The Latina shuffles over to her girlfriend, already prickling the corner of her eyes when she sees the hairbrush in Quinn's hand. Santana stands sheepishly in front of her girlfriend, waiting for the other girl to speak. "Why are you about to be spanked?" Quinn asks evenly, studying the latina's face.

"For purposely breaking my restriction, Ma'am" Santana murmurs, a slight blush spreading across her face as Quinn hands her the hairbrush to hold, the implement feeling like it's made of lead as she grips it.

"Alright then, let's get this over with baby" Quinn replies, taking a hold of Santana's wrist and guiding the latina over her lap. The blonde looks over at Rachel, the diva looking on curiously from her place on the bed, never having seen Santana being punished before, only ever having heard it. The brunette meets Quinn's gaze and gives her a small reassuring smile to try and show her some support. The blonde returns her attention to the latina draped over her lap, sighing softly as she peels the girl's pajama bottoms and panties down to the back of her knees. She places her hand on the soft skin of her girlfriend's toned behind, rubbing gently for a few seconds to help the latina relax her muscles. Lifting her hand, she brings it down sharply on Santana's backside, hearing the girl's surprised gasp, before smacking the other cheek and setting into an easy rhythm. Santana squeezes her eyes closed as Quinn's slaps become firmer, not enough to actually hurt but serving as a reminder of what's to come. Quinn continues to warm up her girlfriend's bare bottom, watching the latina's reactions carefully. She notices Santana starting to squirm as she puts more force behind the spanks, bringing her hand down sharply onto the golden globes, soft whimpers leaving the girl's mouth as each smack lands. Rachel watches in awe as Quinn spanks their girlfriend, while having been on the receiving end of the blonde's punishing hand she has never seen it from the vantage point before, never noticed how much Quinn focuses on the person over her lap, hazel eyes never leaving the now pink skin on front of her. The diva feels sympathy flow through her body as she listens to Santana's pained whimpers, feeling completely different towards her now that she is witnessing the latina being spanked.

"Quinn..please" Santana sniffs, feeling her backside starting to heat up and she tries to wriggle out from underneath her girlfriend's hand without even realising it.

"Santana!" the blonde calls out sharply and causing the latina to instantly still. "You're panicking" she adds softly, glancing over at Rachel who is looking back at her in concern. "Just breathe" Quinn tells her, not surprised that Santana is acting like she did the first time she spanked her since this is the first time someone else has been in the room with them, the latina subconsciously reverting back to a nervous and panicking sixteen year old. "Are you okay?" she asks, her lips curving into a small smile when Santana nods and she ceases her soothing rubbing and starts to spank again, easily falling back into her earlier rhythm. She stops once her girlfriend's bottom is pink all over and warm to touch, lifting her leg and placing it over both of Santana's, anticipating the need to restrain the latina in a few moments. "The brush" Quinn orders succinctly, holding her hand in front of Santana's face.

"I'm sorry" Santana whimpers, passing the hairbrush to the blonde, the first of, what she knows will be, many tears dripping onto the worn carpet. She flinches as she feels the cool wood against her skin, offering some relief for a second before Santana feels it leave her backside, only to crack down a second later. The latina jumps when the brush smacks against her behind for a second time, feeling the pain sink into her muscles and crying out in pain. Quinn keeps her leg firmly in place over Santana's as she focuses on the underside of the latina's bottom, right on her sit spots. She forces herself to block out the sound of her girlfriend's cries, to ignore the way the latina's back heaves and reminds herself to focus solely on spanking her. The room is filled with the sound of wood cracking against soft skin, followed by cries that grow more desperate after each strike. Quinn realises that Brittany will be able to hear the whole thing and she hopes that Santana hasn't worked this out yet as she repeatedly spanks the now deep pink ass that's in front of her.

0-00-0

Brittany winces as she lays in bed, trying to ignore the sounds of the spanking that is floating through the wall and wishing she had brought her Ipod with her to help block out the sounds. She recognises the cries as Santana's and figures it would be for lashing out at Nathan tonight, appreciating that the latina had stuck up for her like that but at the same time knowing exactly how Quinn feels about Santana's infamous temper. Sighing, she reaches out and grabs the remote control that is sitting on the nightstand and switches the television on, turning the volume up and rolling her eyes when she can still hear the spanking going on. Tears burn in her ice blue eyes as this evening's events play out in her mind and she hates herself for her decision to leave them, going from a relationship filled with love and kindess where discipline was handed out in a loving, secure way and going into a relationship that, by the end, was filled with fear and violence.

"What have you done?" she whispers to herself, swiping at the tears that leak from her eyes and turning switching the television back off, rolling onto her side and closing her eyes. Brittany sighs in relief as she hears the spanking stop, her stomach twisting at the horrible sound of Santana sobbing loudly in the next room, only just realising how much she misses the security of their relationship, missing that almost as much as she misses the girls. Pulling the duvet tighter around her body, she tries to go to sleep, put a proper end to one of the most horrible days she has ever endured, thankful that she's nowhere near Nathan, even if it is just for one night. She feels herself starting to drift off, a peaceful haze falling over her when she hears a loud crack followed by a yell of anguish from next door. Brittany knows straight away that Quinn is using the leather strap on Santana's behind and guilt builds up as she assumes it's for the latina's actions tonight, actions that would not have happen if she hadn't called them. The lump in her throat makes it hard to swallow and she sits up, pulling her knees into her body as sobs wrack her body, her pained cries drowning out that of Santana's.

_**Drop me a review to let me know what you think. I know it's shorter than expected but I needed to get that first punishment out of the way before I could focus on Santana's decision. Thanks for reading :)**_


	17. Chapter 17

_**I do not own Glee or any of the original characters, it all belongs to RIB and Fox. Anyone you don't recognise are my own creations.**_

_**I apologise for the long wait for this chapter, I was away taking care of some health problems. I'll do my best to update quickly but for the next few months they might slow down a fair bit.**_

_**R&R please :)**_

Chapter 17

Santana wakes up to realise she's the only one still in bed, the note on the bedside table informing her that Rachel and Quinn went to get food and that they will be back soon. She grimaces at the aching throb in her backside and the mascara stain on the pillow, only imagining what she looks like. Forcing herself out of bed, she heads to the bathroom and looks into the mirror, noticing the black tear tracks that run down her face and picks up the wash cloth that she brought with her; there would be no way her rear would be able to withstand a shower at the moment. She thinks about what she has to tell Quinn today, her mind still not fully made up. On one hand she knows a month long restriction would drive her crazy and she'll most likely end up in more trouble due to that, on the other hand she isn't sure if she can handle a spanking every night for a week. The latina sighs as she drops the cloth back into the sink, remembering that Quinn told her that every night would be the same severity. Santana trusts her and knows that she would never go too far with her, not intentionally anyway. She quickly changes into some fresh clothes, hissing in pain as she pulls her underwear over her damaged backside and chooses to put on her sweatpants rather than her jeans. The latina shuffles to the door when she hears a quiet knock on the motel room door, swinging it open to reveal Brittany.

"Hey" the dancer murmurs and Santana's eyes focus on the dark, ugly bruise on the pale girl's face.

"Hey" Santana replies lamely, gesturing for the blonde to come into the room and closing the door behind her. Blue eyes watch as the latina carefully lowers herself onto the bed and Brittany sits on the desk chair, trying to give the other girl some space.

"How are you feeling?" she asks and Santana blushes when she realises what Brittany is referring to.

"I'm fine" the latina lies, not sure why she's trying to hide her discomfort from someone that's been in the same boat as her. "How are you doing today?" she asks.

"Sore and stupid" Brittany sighs, "But I feel a lot better being away from him" she adds.

"Don't feel stupid, it's not your fault. He's a sadistic asshole who doesn't deserve anyone, much less you" Santana tells her and Brittany nods, choosing not to correct the latina about the reasoning behind her feeling stupid.

"Did you uh get punished for hitting Nathan?" the blonde asks quietly, unsure if she has any right to ask the other girl this.

"Not yet" the latina states simply, her tone of voice telling Brittany that she won't be revealing any more details about it and the dancer realises that the spanking she heard Santana receive last night would have happened whether the incident with Nathan happened or not, it's why they were already here and not at college. "Have you heard from him?" Santana asks, desperate to steer the conversation away from her upcoming discipline.

"He's called a few times, sent a couple of texts apologising and asking me to go back so that we can talk" Brittany sighs. "I'm not going back to him" she adds when she sees Santana's concerned look. The room is filled with an awkward silence, neither girl knowing what to say to the other and Brittany decides it's best to leave the latina to her thoughts and she stands up. "I'll see you later?" Santana nods, watching as the dancer leaves the motel room and letting out a puff of air that she hadn't even realised she'd been holding. She tries to shake the feeling of confusion away but at the back of her mind there's still that niggling feeling, something she doesn't want to discuss with Quinn or Rachel for fear of upsetting them. They had battled for so long to get over the heartbreak of Brittany leaving, do they really need to know that she isn't over the blonde, that she's still in love with her. The latina sighs and pushes herself off of the bed with a small groan of pain and walks over to the window. She gazes out and sees Brittany at the vending machines outside the reception, watching as the blonde punches a number into the keypad, no doubt choosing peanut butter cups and Santana rolls her eyes in amusement when she notices she is correct. Santana narrows her eyes when Rachel and Quinn approach Brittany, both girls carrying grocery bags and Rachel carrying a tray of coffees too. Sighing sadly, the latina thinks how right the three of them look together, just like back in high school. All of them so different but just fitting together so perfectly that it shocked all of them. When she sees her girlfriends walking back across the parking lot, she makes her way to the door and opens it, not missing the megawatt smile that spreads across Rachel's face when she sees her at the door.

"Hi" the diva chirps, kissing Santana and handing over one of the coffees. "It's almost noon" she adds in mildy disapproving voice as she disappears into the room.

"Hey" the latina murmurs to Quinn, taking one of the grocery bags from her and the blonde uses her free hand to cup Santana's face.

"Are you okay?" Quinn asks, "We didn't want to wake you, I figured you needed a decent rest" she says, knowing that Santana usually prefers to have someone there with her the morning after a punishment.

"It's fine, uh Brittany turned up" Santana replies, accepting the warm kiss her girlfriend gives her.

"Oh..cool" Quinn states, leading the latina back into the motel room, realising that Brittany definitely did hear everything the night before and feeling rush of gratitude for the other blonde for being there for Santana this morning. The latina closes the door behind them, catching a glimpse of Brittany looking over at her as she does and moves to sit on the bed beside Rachel, gingerly lowering herself down. "So what did you and Brittany talk about?" Quinn asks and Rachel eyes snap up to look at Santana curiously.

"Not much" the hispanic girl shrugs, "Nathan mostly"

"Brittany was here?" Rachel asks, a hint of jealousy in her voice. "When?" she asks, trying to sound casual but not exactly loving the thought of her girlfriend being alone with their ex.

"Like ten minutes ago" Santana tells her, not catching the jealous undertone. "What did you get?" she asks, rooting through the grocery bags. Quinn studies the smaller brunette, noticing that she looks somewhat annoyed and she nudges her to gain her attention, raising her eyebrows, silently asking if she's alright. Rachel forces a smile and nods, almost immediately feeling silly for her jealousy.

"Rach and I were talking while you were still sleeping, we think it might be a good idea to go and stay at the beach house until things calm down with Nathan. It's only a sixty minute or so drive so we'd just need to get up a little earlier if we have classes in the mornings" Quinn tells Santana, rolling her eyes when the latina nods, her mouth stuffed too full with cheetos to respond verbally. "What would you think about us asking Brittany to come with us?" the blonde asks and Santana looks up in surprise, almost choking in her haste to swallow her food.

"You want her to come to the beach house?" Santana questions.

"Well yeah, Nathan isn't going to leave her alone if she goes back to campus today and none of us can afford to pay for the rest of the week here. If you're not comfortable with it then she doesn't have to come, that's why we asked you before we mention it to Brittany" Quinn states, watching the latina as she thinks. Santana isn't all that sure, Yeah she wants the dancer to be safe but being in the same house as her for a week, during which time she may be getting spanked every night, isn't all that appealing. Even if she chooses the restriction it's still going to be hard being in a confined space with the person that broke all of their hearts.

"I can make sure she's not in the house if you choose the spankings" Rachel murmurs, reading the hesitance on the latina's face. "Even if it means us sitting out on the deck during it" the diva adds.

"Okay" Santana finally whispers.

"Are you sure?" Quinn asks her, watching her carefully for signs of the girl being unsure.

"Yeah. I'm sure, I mean it's safer for her to be with us." the latina reasons. Quinn studies her for a few moments before nodding and standing up.

"I'll go ask her" the blonde tells them, "I won't be long" she adds, kissing both of them and walking out of the motel room. Rachel sighs and flops backwards, laying flat out on the bed and smiling when Santana lays on her side and places her head on her stomach. The diva runs her fingers through the raven hair that splays across her body, looping silky strands around her finger.

"What would you choose?" Santana asks in a small voice, lifting her head to look at her girlfriend, propping herself up on one elbow. Rachel stays silent for a few moments, contemplating the other girl's question, unsure of what she would do if she was in the latina's predicament.

"I don't think I'd be able to stay on restriction for a whole month without earning myself extra punishment" the diva eventually says, mimicing Santana's position and making eye contacts with her. "Do you think you could?" she asks, already knowing the answer but wondering if Santana realises just how unlikely it is for her to not break restriction.

"I got bored after a few days, I hate being on restriction" Santana mutters, "My mom used to always ground me when I was younger and then I'd get grounded longer because she would catch me sneaking out or because I copped an attitude with her when I was bored of staying in the house" the latina sighs. My mom never spanked me and at times I kinda wished she did, spankings always meant forgiveness came quicker and the situation was dealt with quicker too but...a week?" Santana groans, her brow furrowing.

"Quinn said the severity would stay the same, why don't you ask her exactly what she means by that" Rachel suggests, "I very much doubt it would be anything like last night's spanking, that was for something else and was more severe for a reason" she adds.

"I know that I've earned this but it's hard Rach" Santana sighs, "What if Quinn wants to take the strap to my ass every night or the brush, I couldn't handle that every night"

"Like I said, you need to ask Quinn. It's your decision though, none of us ever have to submit to a punishment that we're not comfortable with" the diva tells her seriously and Santana nods.

"Yeah, you're right" the latina says.

"I always am" Rachel grins, leaning over to kiss her girlfriend's full lips. "Always" she adds, causing Santana to chuckle.

0-00-0

Santana seats herself into the front passenger seat as the other girls pile into the car, Quinn sliding into the driver's seat and clipping her safety belt into place. The latina stays silent as Quinn explains to her that she wants her to stay in the car when they stop at college to grab their clothes for the next week, only nodding when the blonde raises a brow at her. According to Brittany, Nathan should have classes until five but Quinn doesn't want to risk Santana and him running into each other so soon. The latina stares out of the window as they drive out of the motel parking lot, only turning away from it long enough to swat Rachel's hand away when the diva tries to change CDs, Streisand is not something Santana can handle today. Brittany can't hold in her small giggle that bubbles from her throat at the other girls' antics, Santana and Rachel's music battles are something she misses, car journeys are never boring with those two.

"You guys don't have to do this" she reminds them quietly.

"Yes, we do" Santana states simply, her tone of voice indicating that she doesn't wish to discuss it further. The latina winces when the car goes over a pot hole in the road and she tries to position herself onto her side but struggling to do so in the small confines of the vehicle. Quinn has to bite her lip to stop herself smiling at how adorable she thinks Santana looks while squirming in her seat. "You could at least try to avoid the pot holes" the latina whines and Quinn shoots her a dark look but doesn't say anything.

"Should we stop to get some food before we get to the beach house?" Rachel asks from the back seat.

"I thought you guys just bought stuff" Santana states in confusion.

"We did but nothing substancial, just some snack things. We hadn't decided on going to the beach house yet" Rachel informs her, "I suppose we could just order some take-out for tonight and go for some food tomorrow. It's Saturday tomorrow so we don't have any classes" she adds.

"Sounds good Rach" Quinn agrees, "I really do not want to cook tonight" The blonde sighs as they hit another pot hole, hearing the groan of irritation and pain coming from Santana.

"Can you at least try to avoid them" the latina whines loudly, glaring at the blonde.

"I am not swerving all over the road just because you broke the rules" Quinn snaps, an awkward silence filling the car as Santana blushes and turns to stare back out of the window. Quinn inwardly curses herself when she realises that the latina is embarrassed at being chastised in front of the person who is no longer with them, the not so subtle hint about her being punished most likely adding to her humiliation. "I'm sorry" the blonde murmurs, low enough for only Santana to hear, a curt nod is the only response she receives. The rest of the drive to college is silent apart from the quiet hum from the stereo, none of them speaking until Quinn swings the car into the parking lot at UCLA. "Is there anything you need from your room apart from the necessities or can it wait until Monday?" she asks the scowling latina next to her, sighing when she shakes her head and refuses to look at her. Rachel stays with Santana while the two blondes head into the dorm block, climbing gracefully into the vacated driver's seat so that she can sit with the latina.

"You don't have to be embarrassed, it's just Brittany. She knows exactly what a spanking from Quinn feels like and she's been over your knee before" The diva states softly.

"I know" Santana sighs, "I just...She's not with us anymore, she doesn't get to hear it" the latina mumbles. "I'm being dumb, aren't I?"

"No, I don't think you are. It's a sensitive subject is all" Rachel replies.

"Quinn apologised after she said it" Santana tells the other girl, "I think Brittany being here is confusing for us all, it feels like old times but it's not. Brittany's seen and heard me getting reprimanded from Quinn loads of times but it's different now, you know?"

"I do. I think Quinn knows that too, otherwise she wouldn't have apologised" the petite brunette reasons. Santana nods in agreement, Quinn never apologises unless she means it and she understands why she would reprimand her in front of Brittany, knowing that she can be infuriating towards her girlfriends at times.

0-00-0

Santana glances at Quinn out of the corner of her eye as they unpack their things, mentally working herself up to talk to her about her decision. She can hear Brittany moving around in the guest room down the hall and she thinks about how weird it is, almost like having her back but at the same time her sleeping in a different bedroom is like a giant reminder of everything. Rachel notices the latina nervously glancing at Quinn and she sends her a small reassuring smile before walking out of the bedroom and down to the spare bedroom. Santana can hear their girlfriend offering to help Brittany unpack, the diva closing the guest room door behind her when she enters to give the other two girls some privacy to talk.

"Q..can we talk?" the latina asks quietly, Quinn closing the closet door and closing the gap between them, pulling Santana into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry about bringing up the rule breaking in front of Brittany" the blonde murmurs into her girlfriend's ear.

"It's cool, I know I made you mad" Santana shrugs, hugging her back. "I have a couple of questions to ask you before I choose my punishment" she adds and Quinn pulls back, sitting on the bed and motioning for the latina to join her. She waits patiently while the girl positions herself comfortably on the bed, putting most of her weight onto her side. "How are you going to spank me?" she asks quietly, nervously playing with a loose thread on her sweatpants.

"Well, I've been thinking about that as well" Quinn admits. "I don't think just using my hand would be enough but I also think using the brush or paddle every night would be too harsh" she sighs, Santana noting that she didn't mention the strap, which can only be a good thing. "So I was thinking, maybe a compromise?" the blonde adds.

"What do you mean?" the latina questions, her brow furrowing as she studies her girlfriend.

"Well, you have seven spankings to receive. I think three of those should be the with the paddle or brush and I think it should be up to you to decide which nights you get that" Quinn explains, watching the hispanic girl as she thinks the suggestion through.

"So, I'd have to ask you to do it?" Santana asks curiously.

"Yes, but if it got to the stage where you had three spankings left and you hadn't asked for them then obviously you would have to have the brush or paddle for those three remaining nights. Of course, you can always choose the restriction instead, it's entirely up to you sweetheart, I've never forced a spanking on you before and I won't do it now" Quinn tells her seriously, her hazel eyes staring straight into her girlfriend's dark brown ones.

"I can't do a month of restriction Quinn" the latina mumbles, almost whimpering, "I just can't"

"I'm gonna need you to say it babe" the blonde tells her, needing to hear Santana verbally give her consent to it. She stays silent until the latina works up to saying it out loud, knowing the latina will always struggle to submit, it's just the type of person she is.

"I choose the spankings" Santana finally murmurs. "I don't want the brush or paddle tonight though" she adds quickly.

"I didn't think you would" Quinn states gently, "Roll over" she adds and Santana, knowing her girlfriend's intentions, immediately complies, laying on her stomach with her head on her arms. Quinn carefully peels the latina's sweatpants and underwear down to her thighs, gazing at the perfectly toned backside in front of her. She rubs her hand across the pink splotches that the strap left behind, careful not to put any pressure on the flesh. The blonde notices some light bruising on the underside of each tanned globe, right on Santana's sit spots. "It doesn't look too bad but I don't think I'd be comfortable using more than my hand tonight so I'm glad you didn't ask for more" Quinn tells her, absent mindedly still caressing the soft skin underneath her hand. "We'll do each one before bed, okay?"

"Okay" the latina whispers, wincing slightly as the blonde pulls her sweatpants and panties back into place and stands up.

"What kind of take-out do you want?" Quinn asks, helping her girlfriend to her feet.

"Pizza but we'll have to find a place that does vegan" Santana says, rolling her eyes. "I suppose we could just get chinese, that way everybody's happy" the latina adds as Rachel walks back into the room, sending Santana a questioning look and smiling softly at the nod she receives. "What do you think baby girl? Chinese?"

0-00-0

Brittany sips at her glass of juice as she looks out at the ocean from her place on the deck, remembering the last time she was here. She had been sitting in this very spot, waiting for Santana to come back from her disappearing act that she pulled after they found out about Quinn cheating. It's only been just over a year since then and it breaks her heart to think about how much has changed, she's no longer with them and even though it was her decision to walk away from the relationship, it still hurts. The dancer thinks back to the first time she met Nathan, remembering how charming he was and how exciting and new it was when they first started dating. She knows now that most of the doubts she had, towards her relationship with the girls, started with thoughts that he had planted in her head. Brittany had allowed him to get inside her head and now that she realises it, she's never felt more stupid in her life. Small comments on how it would be hard to raise a child together, how four parents would be implausible, all turned into a fear of not being able to have a family. He had managed to turn every nice thing she ever told him into a reason to not be with her girlfriends and she had fallen for it.

"Hey" Brittany jumps when she hears Quinn's voice, having not noticed the other blonde coming out of the sliding doors. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you" Quinn adds apologetically.

"It's okay, I was just thinking" Brittany responds quietly as the other girl sits down next to her.

"How are you holding up?" Quinn asks.

"Alright, I guess. The more I think about it, the more I realise just how much control he had over me. He didn't seem like that kind of guy, he seemed sweet and kind and I thought he really cared about me..." Brittany trails off, realising what she's doing, complaining about her boyfriend to the person she left her for. "Sorry. I really appreciate you guys doing this for me" she tells Quinn sincerely.

"The four of us came to California together and just because you're not our girlfriend anymore, doesn't mean we're going to let some bastard hurt you. We can try being friends again. We were friends before we got together, hell when I was pregnant you were one of the few people who truly stuck by me" Quinn chuckles dryly.

"So, we're friends?" Brittany asks timidly.

"Yeah, we're friends" the other blonde confirms and the dancer smiles at her and she's glad that Quinn can't see through the mask of false happiness that she's wearing. She'd rather be friends with them than not have them at all and if she tells any of them that she misses them and wants to be with them after they've spent so long getting over her, then she might not get to have them even just as friends. No, telling them would cause more pain and that's the last thing she wants to do, not after everything they are doing to help her. Brittany hates herself for everything that has happened, for leaving them and for now wanting them back. It's not fair to them, she hurt them badly, can she really expect them to welcome her back with open arms?

_**Let me know what you think. Thank you for reading :)**_


	18. Chapter 18

_**I do not own Glee or any of the original characters, it all belongs to RIB and Fox. Anyone you don't recognise are my own creations.**_

_**Again, I'm sorry for the huge wait for this chapter. I suck, I know. I'll work on getting these chapters up quicker!**_

_**R&R please :)**_

Chapter 18

Quinn wraps her arms around her girlfriend as she sobs into her chest, feeling her heart break at having caused her girlfriend pain so soon after the last punishment. It hadn't taken Santana long to burst into her tears, just a few moments after Quinn's hand started to descend into her still sensitive skin she had began to plead and promise the world. The blonde guides Santana onto the bed, the Latina laying down on her stomach and sobbing into the pillow as her girlfriend gently rubs her inflamed backside. Quinn carefully pulls Santana's pajama bottoms back into place and kneels down at the side of the bed, gently stroking the latina's brow as she gazes at her with red swollen eyes.

"You're okay baby. I'm here and I'm so proud of you for choosing this, so proud" Quinn murmurs, placing a tender kiss to full lips. "Try to get some sleep sweetheart, I love you"

"I love you too" Santana chokes, her breathes fast and jagged. Quinn stays beside the bed until the Hispanic girl's eyes close and her breathing evens out. Only quietly leaving once she's sure the girl is asleep. She finds Brittany and Rachel sitting outside on the deck and the look on the other blonde's face tells Quinn that they both heard everything, a glance to the open window confirming this.

"Hey" Rachel says softly, standing up to engulf her girlfriend in a comforting hug. "Do you wanna go for a walk?" she asks quietly, Quinn nodding silently. "Britt, we're gonna go for a walk, will you be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine, you guys go ahead" Brittany tells them.

"Please don't tell Santana that you heard" the diva states.

"Of course" Brittany replies, a little offended that Rachel even mentioned it. Quinn sends their friend a weak smile as she and Rachel leave, the two girlfriends remaining silent until they reach the sand.

"That was so hard" Quinn whispers as they walk along the beach. "She started crying so quickly and all I wanted to do was hold her" she murmurs. " I'm so proud of her, I can't imagine how I would feel being spanked after the one she got last night and knowing that there's another six coming to get" the blonde explains.

"I'm proud of her too. I'm also proud of you. You are doing this to grant her the redemption she needs even though it's hurting you" Rachel tells her softly, admiration in her brown bambi like eyes. "To Santana, an incomplete punishment is like a rejection and you know that and she will thank you for it. She may not be thanking you for the sore behind but for the fact that you ignore your own pain to help her" Rachel adds, tightening her grip on her girlfriend's hand.

"How do you always know the right thing to say?" Quinn asks in awe.

"It's one of my many talents" the diva retorts playfully, pleased to see the smile playing on the blonde's lips.

"You're amazing" Quinn states, stopping in her tracks and pulling the brunette close and laying a searing kiss on her lips. Hazel eyes flick across to the ocean and Rachel catches on immediately, an almost giddy expression on her face. She glances around the deserted beach, her eyes darkening with want.

"Race ya!" Rachel exclaims, pulling her shirt from her body and taking off down the beach. Quinn laughing and chasing her down to the water, leaving a trail of clothes behind squeals as Quinn catches up to her and tackles her, sending both of them underwater for a second before pulling Rachel to her feet and kissing her passionately, salt mixing with their saliva. Her hands disappear below the surface and grope Rachel's naked body, sending lightening bolts of arousal straight to the diva's centre. She moans into Quinn's mouth as their tongues wrestle for dominance, her hands finding the blonde's ass and squeezing roughly. Rachel feels a surge of momentary guilt surge through her as she thinks of Santana lying alone in bed fast asleep but her mind goes blank when Quinn's mouth encases her erect nipple, gently biting down."Quinn..." the diva whimpers, pushing her body closer to the other girl's, her hand sliding to Quinn's centre and softly circling her clit.

"Jeez Rach"Quinn breathes into the brunette's ear and Rachel roughly pushes her finger into her girlfriend's tight entrance and using a quick rhythm to pump in and out of her. She pushes Quinn's hand away when the blonde's hand slithers up her thigh.

"No. Tonight is about you" Rachel reprimands her. "I want you to feel special" she murmurs, placing open mouthed kisses along Quinn's shoulder and adding another finger. The water laps at their backs as their movements quicken, Quinn moving her hips to meet Rachel's hand, their heavy breaths drifting into the night air. The blonde leans against the diva, perfect white teeth biting down on her tanned shoulder as her orgasm builds, Rachel holding most of her weight as her legs start to tremble. Her walls clench around the diva's fingers and her pussy throbs as her girlfriend's name rips from her throat. She pants loudly as she recovers, Rachel peppering her face with kisses and holding her steady.

0-00-0

Santana frowns when she wakes up to find the bed empty apart from herself. She picks up her cell phone and checks the time, surprised to see that's it's almost five in the morning and wondering where Quinn and Rachel are. The Latina winces as she sits up, her backside still feeling extremely tender and she quickly stands up to relieve the pressure on her behind. Padding across the room, she opens the door quietly and looks down the hall. She sees that the guest bedroom door is open and that Brittany's bed hadn't been slept in and she starts to worry. Santana frowns when she reaches the dark livingroom, spotting that the kitchen light is on and walking into the empty room. Looking out the windows she sees Brittany sitting out on the deck and she opens the sliding door and sticks her head out.

"Where are Quinn and Rachel?" she asks quietly, unable to meet the blonde's eyes.

"They went for a walk at like eleven, I wanted to make sure they got home okay before I went to bed" Brittany replies, lifting the blanket that's laying across her legs and beckoning the Latina over.

"Have you tried calling them?" Santana asks, moving one of the chairs next to Brittany's and smiles weakly when the dancer lays some of the blanket across her.

"Yeah, I called both of their cells but none of them answered" the blonde sighs. "I was gonna give them another hour or so before I woke you" she adds. Santana nods, gazing silently out at the ocean and watching the sunrise, an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach as they wait for the girls to return.

_**Small update, I know but I'm trying to get all of my fics updated quickly so that I can try and finish a few of them. Let me know what you think, thanks for reading :)**_


	19. Chapter 19

_**I do not own Glee or any of the original characters, it all belongs to RIB and Fox. Anyone you don't recognise are my own creations.**_

_**Thank you very much for the reviews, did not mean to leave it quite as long after the small cliffhanger so apologies for that!**_

_**R&R please :)**_

Chapter 19

Quinn screws her face up at the disgusting taste in her mouth, rubbing her tongue across the grainy texture and opening her eyes, squinting due to the blinding early morning sun. She looks around her and curses inwardly, of course they would fall asleep on the damn beach. She had told Rachel that laying back to look at the stars while they were so tired was a bad idea but, of course, one pleading look from those huge brown eyes and she was putty in the diva's hand. She nudges the girl lying next to her, gaining only a groan in response and she slaps the girl's ass to get her attention.

"Ow! What Quinn?" Rachel demands sleepily, sitting bolt up straight when she remembers where they are. "Santana is going to kill us" she whines, pushing herself to her feet and pulling Quinn's arm. "Get up. We've been gone all night and we don't have our phones" Rachel snaps, ignoring her girlfriend's raised brow.

"I'm coming, calm down. All we have to do is explain what happened. I told you this was a bad idea" Quinn grumbles, standing up and allowing her panicking diva to drag her along the beach.

"Nobody forced you Quinn! It may have been my idea but you could have easily said no" Rachel snaps, dropping the blonde's hand and striding along the beach as quickly as her smaller legs can manage, sighing when Quinn easily keeps up with her.

"I didn't say that I was forced, Rachel. Calm down, Santana will understand" the blonde tells her girlfriend, trying to take her hand again.

"I don't think she will understand and I'd completely get it if she is mad with us, how would you like it if you were on a punishment that lasted as long as Santana's and you woke up to find your girlfriends out having fun for hours on end rather than comforting you. Not to mention, we've been gone for hours and neither of us have our cell phones" Rachel rants, stopping abruptly and turning on her heel to glare at "You don't think I feel terrible enough about being out here all night while Santana is in pain and in the house with the person who caused us all so much pain? Because I do and you don't need to remind me of just how stupid my idea was last night because I won't be able to feel any more guilty Quinn!" the diva adds, her voice steadily growing louder.

"Oh yeah because I don't feel guilty when I'm the one that's causing her to feel the damn pain!" Quinn snaps sarcastically. "You don't know how it feels to make someone you love cry when they're already in so much pain, you've never punished any of us" she adds, furious that Rachel would assume to think she doesn't feel bad about all this.

"I would if I had to, if it was allowed" the diva responds bitterly and Quinn's angry expression switches to one of confusion.

"You have a problem with that? Why didn't you say anything when we all discussed it? When Santana brought it up, you agreed" Quinn states, unsure of where this conversation is going.

"That's not what I mean Quinn" Rachel replies in an exhasperated tone, sighing heavily. "I just don't like you throwing it in my face because I haven't spanked any of you. Just because I don't hand out any punishments doesn't mean I don't suffer as much as you or Santana do when you have to make the other one cry! I get to sit there and listen to it and feel helpless because I know exactly how it feels to be punished. I may not understand how it feels to hand it out but that doesn't mean my feelings aren't important!" the diva yells, turning and storming down the beach.

"Rach, that's not what I was saying and you know it. You seemed to think I didn't feel guilty about all of this and I was trying to explain that I do but you don't give me a chance to explain, you never do" Quinn retorts, chasing after Rachel. "Will you stop walking away from me!" she snaps. "We don't run away from our problems" Quinn adds more firmly.

"I'm not running away from our problems, I'm going back to the house to see if Santana is alright. It's not running away if we're going the same way" Rachel replies haughtily, Quinn relenting and following her quietly, deciding to give them both a chance to cool down before attempting to continue this conversation.

0-00-0

Santana stands up as she spots Rachel coming along the beach, noticing that the brunette is visibly angry even though she is still relatively far away. The Latina smirks as she recognises the diva's 'tantrum walk' as Brittany always calls it and she turns to face the blonde and, despite the circumstances, they share an amused look. Brittany looks along the beach and waits until Quinn also comes into view and she motions that she'll be upstairs.

"Thanks for waiting up for them" Santana tells her softly.

"No problem" Brittany smiles. "Let me know if there's anything any of you need" she adds before disappearing through the sliding doors. Santana watches as Rachel gets closer to her, the small brunette practically throwing herself into the latina's arms the second she reaches her.

"I'm so sorry. We fell asleep on the beach and we didn't mean to leave you, I'm so sorry" Rachel frantically murmurs into the crook of Santana's neck.

"It's okay, it was an accident. I was fine, I was just worrying that you guys weren't" Santana states, rubbing Rachel's back. "Did something happen between you and Quinn?" she asks, watching as the blonde slowly gets closer to them.

"Just a disagreement. Can we not talk about that yet? I'm too mad at her to discuss it at the moment" the shorter girl tells her.

"Ok baby girl. We do have to talk about where you guys were all night" Santana says softly. "I'll go make some coffee and then we can all sit down and talk"

"I'll make the coffee" Rachel mutters as Quinn climbs the steps to the beach house. Santana raises a brow as she watches their brunette girlfriend flounce into the house.

"I'm sorry honey" Quinn sighs, leaning into the latina and softly kissing her full lips. "Laying down on the sand to look at the stars is always romantic until you both fall asleep. Were you worried?"

"Yeah, I was." Santana tells her. "What's going on with you and Rachel?"

"She misunderstood something I said and naturally wouldn't let my explanation get in the way of her dramatics" Quinn states, disapproval laced in her tone.

"That's a little harsh, her heart is always in the right place, no matter what the reason is for her to be upset" Santana scolds, Quinn at least having the decency to look ashamed. "She's really mad at you, are you sure you maybe didn't word whatever you said wrong? It's easy to misunderstand someone's meaning if they say it wrong?" the latina adds gently. "What were you talking about?"

"You" Quinn sighs, "Your punishment, Rachel felt guilty for not being here last night and I guess I took some things the wrong way and thought she was saying that I didn't feel bad about the situation and it just went from there. It sounds so stupid now" she adds with a dry chuckle. "I am really sorry we weren't here, I know you don't like waking up on your own and we honestly only planned to be out for a few hours"

"It's alright, accidents happen" Santana smiles.

"So we're not getting punished?" Rachel asks as she exits through the sliding door with three mugs of coffee balancing on a tray, setting it on the table and sitting down while her girlfriends sit on either side of her, Santana wincing as she does so.

"Rach, do you really think you should be punished for every little accident or mistake? Our arrangement would never work if that happened, it'd almost be like we're trying to control each other if we all got punished for every single thing. We'd end up resenting the arrangement and maybe even each other" the latina murmurs.

"It just seems unfair, neither of us took our cell phone with us which is something we're supposed to do and yet we're getting away with it while you're getting spanked every night" Rachel mumbles and Santana's raises her eyebrow at this, having completely forgotten that they didn't take their phones with them.

"Okay well, you're both on restriction for the rest of the weekend for not taking your cells with you, not because you fell asleep on the beach, just for the cell phone thing. Do you both agree that it's a suitable punishment?" Santana asks, both of her girlfriends nodding. "Okay, good. As for my punishment, this is for a repeatedly breaking the rule about losing my temper and lashing out at the person I'm angry with" she explains. "I'm not going to lie, I'm not looking forward to the next six nights, not at all but I accept that I deserve it. Quinn warned me what would happen and I ignored her so now I'm living with the consequences. I know it's hard for you guys as well and I'm sorry that my stupidy is giving us all the week from hell but it's not an unfair punishment" Santana adds. "So please, baby girl, don't feel bad for me" Rachel nods, leaning forward to hug the other girl and even sending Quinn a small smile.

"I'm gonna go have a shower" the diva tells them, turning her gaze to Quinn. "We'll talk after?" she asks, suddenly unsure of herself.

"We'll be here" Quinn nods, watching as Rachel walks back inside. "I'm so proud of you babe" she states, turning her whole body to face Santana. "That can't have been an easy thing to say and I know this whole situation completely sucks but you're handling yourself amazingly well and I'm just so proud" Santana beams at the praise from her girlfriend, a small blush spreading across her cheeks as she chastely kisses the blonde, after the last few days, it is something she really needed to hear.

_**Drop me a review to let me know what you think :) Thank you very much for reading!**_


	20. Chapter 20

_**I do not own Glee or any of the original characters, it all belongs to RIB and Fox. Anyone you don't recognise are my own creations.**_

_**I would just like to stress that there's a reason for this story being a part of my faberrittana series...it's a faberrittana story and they will be endgame in this story. I know some of you are impatient for them to be back together but I have a plan for it and I'm sticking to it. It may take a while but you will get what you want, I just do not want to rush a story I have spent a long time planning.**_

_**Thank you for your amazing reviews and for sticking with story for as long as you have!**_

Chapter 20

Rachel sighs as she starts the car, waiting until Santana finds a comfortable position to sit in before backing out of the driveway, the Latina whimpering as the car glides across the gravel. Monday mornings sucked at the best of times but after submitting to her third spanking the night before, the first with the paddle, it proves to be an even worse beginning to the week for Santana. Quinn had eaten breakfast with them this morning, despite not having any classes today and she had suggested that the Latina had stayed at the house rather than go to class but the stubborn tanned girl had waved the idea off. Rachel glances at her girlfriend, noticing she is curled up onto her side as much as the seatbelt would allow and she pulls the car back into the driveway.

"Please just stay here" the diva murmurs, her heart aching at the sight of Santana in so much pain. "Please" Rachel repeats when the Latina opens her mouth to argue. Santana relents and nods, normally they would never allow the after effects of a punishment interfere with school but this is new territory for them, they had never had a punishment as severe as this before. "I'll stop into the coffee shop and tell them you're sick and can't do your shift tonight" Rachel states, leaning across and placing a tender kiss to Santana's lips. "I love you"

"I love you too" the Latina whispers, tears leaking from her eyes as she transfers her weight onto her damaged behind before sliding out of the car. She limps back to the house, Quinn opening the door before she reaches it, having witnessed the car coming back.

"Come upstairs" the blonde says softly, taking Santana's hand into hers and gently pulling her up to their bedroom. "Can I see?" she asks, the Latina nodding and climbing onto the bed, laying on her stomach. Quinn gently pulls her girlfriend's baggy jeans and loose underwear down to mid thigh and gasps softly. Her hand lingers above the still pink skin of Santana's ass, making sure not to touch it as she inspects the damage. She's glad there's no major bruising, only a few faint marks on the underside of each buttock but she feels tears burning in her hazel eyes as she admits to herself that the skin looks raw and slightly swollen. "I think we should give you some time to heal before we think about the last four" she utters.

"No" Santana mutters, shaking her head furiously. "There's no point in letting myself heal just to have more, just stick to the plan Quinn" she adds firmly, the blonde gazing at her doubtfully and chewing on her bottom lip. "Please Quinn, I need to get this over with" Santana adds pleadingly. Quinn sighs softly as she glances back down at her girlfriend's tender behind.

"Okay" she whispers. "I'm gonna get some ice" the blonde adds, Santana nodding and laying her head on her arms, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her backside. Santana sighs heavily, wondering just how in the world she's going to be able to handle another spanking tonight, never mind the other three she still has coming. She wonders if she'd be struggling as much if she hadn't went through the severe punishment at the motel or would she still be extremely tender by now anyway. Tensing, she feels eyes on her and she realises she didn't hear Quinn close the bedroom door once she left the room, a quiet creak from a floorboard confirming that someone is there...Brittany. The Latina forces herself to not turn around, listening carefully until she hears the soft click of the guest bedroom door closing before letting out a puff of air she hadn't realised she'd been holding. Shame fills her to her core when she notices the tell-tale tingling between her legs, she had expected to feel humiliated, not aroused. Tanned fingers curl into fists as she fights the urge to slip them down into what feels like dripping heat and guilt ripples through her. Brittany isn't her girlfriend yet she feels so incredibly turned on just at the thought of the talk blonde seeing her laying there with her ass in the air in a vulnerable position. She hears Quinn;s steps on the stairs and her pulse quickens, what if she noticed how turned on she is? What if she asks why. "Hey babe" Quinn murmurs as she enters the bedroom, a basin in her hands. The blonde sets the basin on the bedside cabinet and pulls a beach towel from the cupboard, spreading it out across the bottom of the bed. "Can you lay on the towel for me please?" she asks, waiting until Santana scoots over onto the towel before climbing onto the bed and straddling her lower thighs, taking the basin with her.

"Is there any point?" Santana grumbles.

"Yes" Quinn states simply, dipping her hand into the mixture of ice and water and pulling out the rag she had placed in it. She squeezes it out a little before covering her girlfriend's ass gently, the latina whimpering softly at the relief it offers her.

"Just your hand" Santana says quietly, "not the brush or paddle tonight" she adds.

"Just my hand" Quinn confirms, seriously doubting whether or not she'll be able to comfortably punish the latina tonight. She crawls around to sit further up the bed, Santana repositioning herself slightly and leaning her head on Quinn's lap, the blonde gently running her hand through raven locks and singing softly.

0-00-0

Brittany can hear Quinn's gentle voice floating through the door as she passes the room for the second time, heading downstairs to the livingroom and slumping down onto the sofa. The image of Santana laying on the bed, naked from the waist down stays in her mind as she tries to focus on the mindless, low budget made for tv movie that's playing in front of her. She had seen the latina tense up and she knows that Santana knew she was there. Brittany wonders if the other girl will say anything to Quinn or to her, for that matter and she tries to understand what went through her mind as she stood in the doorway watching her, trying to work out if it's the girls or the arrangement that she misses the most. Her heart aches as she realises; it's both.

"Hey" Brittany jumps when she hears Quinn's voice.

Hey" the dancer murmurs, watching as the other blonde sits down on the arm chair and studies her with serious hazel eyes and the taller girl panics, did Santana say something to her?

"How are you doing?" she asks her and Brittany internally sighs with relief, offering Quinn a tentative smile.

"Not great but not that bad either, my face doesn't hurt as much but my hip still hurts when I'm walking" Brittany explains. "I feel better for being here though, I feel..safe" she adds and Quinn nods returning her smile before turning her attention to the screen and the two students awkwardly watch the terrible movie together, neither one of them reallly focusing on it but also not have a clue what to say to each other. "Don't you have any classes today?" Brittany finally asks, unable to stand the silence any longer.

"Yeah, I have one later this afternoon, Rachel will be back soon and I'll leave soon after that. When are you going back?" Quinn questions.

"I was thinking about going tomorrow, all of you have classes in the morning, right?" the dancer murmurs, "My first one is at nine" she adds and Quinn understands what Brittany is really trying to ask.

"You don't have to ask for a ride B, you're more than welcome" Quinn states softly. They both look up as the front door opens and Rachel walks through it, the diva beaming when she spots Quinn on the armchair, frowning slightly when Brittany abruptly decides to go for a walk and leaves through the door that Rachel hasn't even closed yet.

"Did I interrupt something?" the small brunette asks in confusion, Quinn shaking her head as she walks across the room to greet her girlfriend.

"No. I think her head is just all over the place at the moment, which is understandable" the blonde murmurs, pulling the other girl towards her and kissing her chastely, "Hi" she grins.

"Hi, how was your morning?" Rachel asks, allowing Quinn to lead her into the kitchen, smiling when the blonde starts to make them both coffee.

"Pretty rough, Santana's in so much pain" she sighs.

"Yeah, about that..maybe you should give her a break for a night or two before you spank her again" Rachel states carefully, "I know it's not unusual to find it uncomfortable to sit down for a little while but she really can't sit down without being in agony" she adds, Quinn nodding sadly. "Hey..Don't do that" the diva tells her, "You both agreed on this so don't start feeling guilty about it, of course it's hard but you didn't force her into this"

"I know but she doesn't want a break, she wants me to continue as planned" Quinn mutters with a shake of her blonde head.

"And what do you want?" Rachel presses, studying her closely.

"I don't want to do it, I don't feel comfortable spanking her tonight but I'll do it. I'll check on her once I'm back from class and if it doesn't look too bad then I'll do it but after that I'm giving her a couple of nights off, whether she likes it or not" Quinn responds seriously, wishing she felt as sure as she sounded.

"I think you should give Santana the break now, I think that if you're not comfortable with it then you shouldn't do it. If Santana doesn't think about it responsibly then it's up to us to say no. I may not have experience in giving out the punishment but I do have experience in receiving it and I know that, personally, I wouldn't want someone punishing me if they had doubts about it" Rachel explains, relieved to see understanding on her girlfriend's face.

"You're right" Quinn murmurs. "She's sleeping just now and I don't want to wake her so don't say anything to her until I'm back"

"Of course" the diva nods, leaning upwards to peck the other girl's lips before wrapping her arms around Quinn's waist, knowing Santana isn't going to like this one bit but hoping she'll understand that they have valid reasons for worrying.

_**Let me know what you think :) I'm hoping to have the next chapter up pretty quickly, fingers crossed. Thank you for reading :)**_


	21. Chapter 21

_**I do not own Glee or the original characters, it all belongs to RIB and Fox. Anyone you don't recognise are my own creations.**_

_**Thank you so much for your reviews for the last chapter and for your patience during the long wait (again) for an update!**_

_**A/N - Due to reasons that some of you are aware of, this will be the only update until July.**_

_**R&R please.**_

Chapter 21

Santana walks straight into Quinn's open arms as she walks into the kitchen, burying her face in the blonde girl's neck and inhaling her comforting scent. Quinn's arms tighten around the Latina's athletic frame and she soothingly rubs her back, avoiding going near her sensitive backside. She murmurs tenderly in her ear, so quietly that Brittany, who is sitting at the table, can't hear.

"What time is it?" Santana asks quietly, her voice muffled against her girlfriend's neck.

"It's almost seven thirty, you must have been exhausted. Are you hungry?" Quinn asks, feeling Santana shake her head no against her. "How about a walk? We can talk about stuff" the blonde suggests softly and Santana nods. "Alright, are you good for a bit?" she asks Brittany, the tall blonde nodding with a smile that nobody realises is forced. Quinn leads the silent latina from the kitchen and out onto the deck to where Rachel is waiting for them, the diva silently following them. Quinn notices that Santana holds onto her hand a lot tighter than she usually does as they step onto the sand, Rachel on the latina's other side with her arm looping through hers as they walk. Neither girl know what to say to the raven haired girl, both unsure as to whether or not they should bring up what they had discussed; especially when Santana seems content for the first time in days.

"I'm glad we brought Brittany out here with us" Rachel tells them softly, breaking their comfortable silence. "I'm glad she's safe" the diva adds, missing the look of guilt that flashes across Santana's tanned features. Quinn, however, does not and it confuses her. She chooses not to say anything yet, thinking she may just be reading too much into it and not wanting to upset either of her girlfriends.

"What time do you want to do it tonight?" Santana asks Quinn softly, her dark eyes focusing on the sand below their feet. The blonde catches the wary glance that Rachel sends in her direction and she sighs softly and stops abruptly, causing the two other girls to stop as well.

"I'm not going to spank you tonight" Quinn murmurs, feeling her heart break at the way Santana's face crumples with despair, dark eyes pleading with her. "You're in so much pain baby, I should never have even threatened you with one every night, it's too much for you and I'm sorry. This is just as much my fault as it is yours and I'm sorry sweetheart but I'm not spanking you tonight, I just don't feel like I can do it without causing some damage and I'm not comfortable risking it" the blonde explains.

"Please Quinn.. I need this" Santana pleads, her tanned hands gripping Quinn's as she fights back the tears that threaten to fall, the blonde staring at her in horror. The latina looks so broken and desperate that it hurts Quinn to even look at her and she feels guilt flow through her body as she she watches Rachel take the now sobbing Santana into her arms. "Please" the latina whimpers, the diva murmuring softly to her while Quinn stands frozen to the spot, her gaze blurring from the tears that gather in her hazel eyes. The blonde swipes at her eyes and turns away from her girlfriends, slowly walking further away from the beach house, her steps growing gradually faster until she is running flat across the sand. She doesn't see Santana fall to her knees, doesn't see Rachel attempt to soothe the distraught latina but the sound of the girl's bitter sobs never leave her ears.

0-00-0

Brittany feels her chest clench as she steps out onto the deck, instantly the recognising the heart broken cries that come from the beach as Santana's and she leans on the railing as she tries to scope out what's going on. She watches sadly as Rachel tries to pull the devasted Santana to her feet but the latina isn't budging, the diva's shoulders slumping as she looks around helplessly. Brittany pushes herself away from the railing and makes her way down the steps, jogging over to her two dark haired ex girlfriends.

"I've got her" the blonde murmurs softly as she kneels down and pulls Santana to her feet and easily picks her up. The taller girl carries the latina bridal style across the sand, Santana sobbing into her neck and doesn't even seem to care about who it is that is carrying her. Rachel, however, does care and she warily follows the two girls back to the beach house, wondering if this could possibly complicate things further for them despite feeling grateful that Brittany came out to help. The blonde carefully lays Santana down on the bed she shares with Quinn and Rachel, surprised that she has to coax the latina to remove her arms from around her neck. "It's okay, Rachel's right here" she whispers as she backs away from the bed, almost bumping into Rachel who stares at her helplessly.

"Quinn..." Rachel mutters.

"Will be fine" Brittany interrupts. "I'll go find her" she adds, rubbing her hand soothingly up and down the diva's arm, her hand lingering a little longer than necessary and she awkwardly pulls back. Rachel nods, hoping her eyes convey her gratitude as the lump in her throat makes it too hard for her to speak. Once they are alone the short brunette carefully climbs onto the bed and lays in front of Santana, wrapping her arms around her distraught girlfriend as the latina cries into her chest. How could she have not seen this coming? How had she not noticed how fragile both her girlfriends were even now, so long after their break-up with Brittany. She knows that she herself has been struggling with having Brittany around them so much lately but she thought Quinn and Santana were doing alright, she had assumed that they had learned from past mistakes and would know to talk to each other when they weren't doing so well.

"It's okay honey, I've got you" Rachel murmurs soothingly, tightening her arms around Santana as her own tears well in her eyes. Could it be that neither girl had realised themselves just how badly they were doing? Or had they maybe thought that they were the only ones feeling this way and were too scared to bring it up to the others in case they brought the heartbreak back to the surface. Each girl's reactions to the earlier conversation had taken Rachel by surprise, it seemed like such an overreaction to her but she knows from the past that when you're feeling so overwhelmed with your emotions working on over time it only takes the slightest of things to set off the explosion that has been brewing. She gently kisses Santana's head, the latina's sobs dying down to the odd sniffle or hiccup and she repositions them so that she is sitting against the headboard with Santana's head in her lap.

"I'm sorry" Santana whispers, her voice hoarse from crying.

"Don't apologise for your feelings" Rachel murmurs in response, her fingers running through the jet black locks that fan out across her knees.

"She left" the latina mutters painfully, "She said she couldn't punish me which can only mean that she can't forgive me and then she turned around and left. Why would she do that? Why would she leave?" she asks, sounding much younger and smaller as she looks up at Rachel with sad, swollen eyes.

"She's not gone sweetheart, she hasn't left us... she just.. I guess she was feeling overwhelmed and just needed to be on her own" Rachel tells her softly. "Britt went to go find her, everything's going to be okay" she adds, though she isn't so sure that it will be. "You got so upset on the beach, you couldn't even stand up...that wasn't just about today was it?" she asks knowingly.

"I need her to do it, I need the proper punishment" Santana whispers. "She won't be able to forgive me unless it's the proper punishment, neither of you will" she adds fearfully. "Even if she says it's okay to take a break, it's not..she said every night, it has to be every night" the latina whimpers and Rachel can't see any of the usual Santana inside those terrified dark eyes.

"Why didn't you talk to one of us? You've been inside your own head and letting it all build up. If you had said something to us then we would have told you that we already do forgive you and that taking a break isn't going against the rules of punishment. Seven spankings in seven days is a lot, both physically and emotionally and let's not forget about the punishment you had back at the motel..that's eight in eight days honey. Accepting that you need to take a break doesn't mean you're not taking your punishment seriously or that it's wrong to need a break. It just means that you need a break, there isn't anything more to it than that, Quinn didn't want to cause any damage and she didn't want to destroy your relationship with her" Rachel explains, her eyes serious as she looks deeply into her girlfriend's eyes.

"Why would it destroy us?" Santana questions, her brow kinking as she studies Rachel curiously.

"Are you telling me that you don't already feel some resentment towards the arrangement? That you don't regret agreeing to this kind of relationship" Rachel asks, seeing the realisation on the girl's tanned features. "Overdoing it could do far more damage to this relationship than ignoring a broken rule could. It's already affecting the relationship, neither you or Quinn have great judgement right now because all you've been thinking about is how you need to get through this week to earn your redemption while panicking about how you would lose us if you didn't and all Quinn has been thinking about is how you would view it as rejection if she called it off for a couple of days" the diva murmurs. "And Quinn was right, you saw this as a huge rejection and the way I see it is both of you have been worrying so much lately that you're forgetting the most important thing; we love each other. Quinn reacted to you getting upset probably because she feels like she failed you and you think that you've failed us. Am I right?"

"I just don't want her to think I'm overreacting" Santana murmurs sadly.

"She knows you're not overreacting, we both do and do you know why?" Rachel asks pointedly.

"Because you can see that it hurts?" the latina guesses, tears pooling in her almost black eyes again and she rapidly blinks them away, a couple dropping onto her lashes and causing them to shimmer.

"Because we trust you" the diva responds. "There wouldn't be a relationship if we didn't trust each other. None of us actually like being spanked but we all accept that we need it and we don't try to worm our way out of it because we know that we deserve it and we respect each other to be honest about it. You should have said something Santana, you should have said how you were feeling...both of you should have, all of this could have been avoided. You have a say in this, don't you think Quinn would have felt awful if she had went ahead with it tonight only to find out that you were doing it because you were scared about letting her down, which you could never do, not like this" Rachel states passionately. "If the roles were reversed and it was Quinn who had earned this punishment, would you have wanted to go ahead with it tonight?"

"No, I guess not" Santana mumbles, feeling like an idiot for her reactions and knowing that Rachel is right; talking to each other would have prevented this. "She's upset with herself for not doing it? That's not fair" the latina sighs.

"No..it's not" her girlfriend agrees with a shake of her head.

"I made her feel like she was wrong for not being comfortable to do it tonight" the latina states guiltily. "Do you remember when we first wrote up the rules? When we made sure to add a rule that the person who does the spanking has to be comfortable with it?" she asks, Rachel nodding, seeing that she has finally gotten through to her and feeling relived but still scared for Quinn at the same time. "I screwed up" Santana mutters bitterly.."Again"

"Hey" Rachel says a little more sharper than intended. "You made a mistake, you're only human and you've had a really rough few days, don't put yourself down because of it" she tells her firmly, surprising Santana with the force behind her words. The latina watches her for a moment, deep in thought as she thinks about the girl's words and her amazing understanding of the situation and she wonders if she has underestimated the petite brunette.

"If you ever need to, you can" Santana finally blurts out, Rachel's eyebrows raising in surprise and she assumes that she is misunderstanding the latina. "Punish me, I mean" Santana confirms, her voice steady and serious as she gazes at the diva.

"Are you sure? Would you really be comfortable with this?" Rachel questions her, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She's not smiling because she has permission to punish one of the girls she loves and make them cry, it's the feeling of complete and utter trust and equality she gets from the latina's offer.

"Yeah. We need to talk to Quinn about it first but I trust you to do it, you've been over my lap enough times to know how it feels and I don't think I know anyone who is more full of compassion and understanding than you are. I hope I never give you a reason to but if I do then..do it" Santana murmurs, a slight blush spreading across her face, surprised when Rachel leans down and captures her lips in a passionate kiss, the action saying more than words possibly could in this moment. "Thank you" the latina whispers, her hand moving to cup the soft skin of her girlfriend's cheek, an almost goofy grin on her face. "I love you baby girl" she adds softly.

"I love you too" Rachel says with a tender smile.

"We should go look for Quinn" Santana states. "You just spent ages reassuring me and now it's my turn to reassure Quinn, to let her know that our relationship is okay and that I'm not freaking out about taking a break from the punishment..anymore" she explains.

"I think that's a good idea and then we can all talk about things and hopefully you and Quinn will learn to talk about how you're feeling before it all boils over in future" Rachel states as Santana gingerly rolls onto her back, wincing slightly as she pushes herself to her feet. The latina holds out her hand and helps her girlfriend to her feet, Rachel almost knocking the air from Santana's lungs as she throws her arms around her and hugs her tightly. "I'm so proud of you" the smaller girl murmers, full of pride at the latina's mature decision to deal with their problems, feeling that things have a decent shot at changing for the better.

_**Thank you for reading, I hope you liked it..please let me know if you did :)**_


	22. Chapter 22

_**I do not own Glee or any of the original characters, It all belongs to RIB and Fox. Any characters you don't recognise are my own creations.**_

_**Thank you so much for your patience while waiting this chapter, I'm sorry it took so long! Thank you for all of your reviews, I appreciate them more than you know and I hope you all continue to like this story!**_

_**Just a small chapter to get myself back into writing this. R&R please.**_

Chapter 22

It's well after midnight when Quinn returns to the beach house and she makes sure to be as silent as possible as she walks through the dark kitchen, not wanting to wake anyone up. The whole house is quiet, apart from the rustling of the grocery bag that she's carrying, which is something she isn't used to, Santana would usually be up watching some awful reality show at this time while Rachel lectured her on the benefits of having a good nights sleep. She creeps through the house, being careful to miss out all the creaky floorboards as she climbs the stairs and enters the bathroom to find Rachel sitting on the floor and reading a book.

"What are you doing?" Quinn asks in confusion.

"Santana's asleep and I didn't want to wake her up by putting the bedroom light on" Rachel murmurs as she folds over the corner of the page and closes the book, placing it on the floor next to her.

"Why didn't you just go downstairs?" the blonde questions, sitting down next to her girlfriend and stretching her legs out in front of her, placing the grocery bag on her lap.

"I wanted to be close by" Rachel responds softly, eyeing the bag but choosing not to say anything.

"I'm sorry I left" Quinn sighs, "I just..I freaked out when I saw Santana's reaction and I just felt like I had completely let her down and...I freaked out" she adds lamely.

"I know. I talked to Santana, turns out that both of you were too busy focusing on pleasing the other one that you both forget to communicate with each other" Rachel states, noticing that Quinn's eyebrows rise in surprise. "That's right, Santana wanted you to be proud of her and she wanted to make it through the whole punishment without any breaks so that she wouldn't let you down and you, you wanted to force yourself to do something that you weren't comfortable with doing because you didn't want to let Santana down" Rachel sighs, shaking her head lightly. "I swear...sometimes I just want to clunk your heads together" she adds in a much lighter tone. "You need to talk to each other"

"Yeah, we do. Thank god for you, huh? Who would guess that Rachel Berry would be the one to keep things calm?" Quinn smirks, chuckling when Rachel playfully slaps her thigh. "Seriously though, thank you. You've pretty much kept our whole relationship intact lately" she adds seriously, leaning over to gently kiss the diva's full lips.

"Well, I think we all deserve the credit for that but I will accept the kiss" Rachel smiles. "What did you buy?" she asks, pointing to the bag..her curiosity finally winning.

"I got this" Quinn mutters, pulling a red, plastic hairbrush out of the bag. "It's light and I figured it'd be better to use for long punishments rather than the wooden one. This one will sting and probably burn like hell but it won't bruise" Quinn explains, passing the brush to Rachel and the diva weighs it in her hand. "Not that I'm planning on any of us having a punishment that lasts this long again. I won't ever throw out threats again, that's for sure" Quinn adds quietly.

"This seems better" Rachel nods. "The wooden one definitely leaves an impression but I don't think I'd be able to last such a long punishment with it" she explains, wincing at the guilty expression that floods across Quinn's face. "No..don't feel guilty. Even Santana accepts that she earned this punishment" Rachel tells her seriously. "This is exactly why you two need to communicate with each other better!" she exclaims.

"I, for one, will make an effort to talk before freaking out over something simple in the future" the blonde says sincerely.

"Good" Rachel replies simply. "Now, I need to go to bed..I have class in the morning, not all of us get a day off in the middle of the week" she mocks. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, I just need to go lock up..I forgot to lock the back door when I came back" Quinn sighs.

"No, I got it. You go lie with our girl, I think she'll be pretty happy to wake up next to you" Rachel smiles. "I'll be back in a few" she adds. Quinn nods and sends the departing girl a grateful smile before quietly making her way into the bedroom. She pulls off her jeans and jacket before sliding into bed next to the sleeping latina, noticing that the girl is sleeping naked from the waist down and frowning, her backside must be really sore. Quinn places her arm around Santana and watches her as she sleeps, feeling bad for the frown that stays on her girlfriend's stunning features, even as she sleeps.

"I'm glad you're back" Santana murmurs sleepily, surprising Quinn who hadn't realised she was awake. "I'm sorry for my part in this big mess" she adds, cracking her eyes open and gazing at Quinn's face in the half lit room. "I know we have a lot to talk about but can we talk in the morning and just...cuddle?" Santana asks, a hint of embarrassment in her voice.

"Don't be embarrassed" Quinn whispers as she kisses the tip of the latina's nose and pulls her close. "I'm sorry too" she states softly, Santana humming her acceptance into Quinn's shoulder. Quinn reaches down and gently rubs the latina's bottom, Santana whimpering slightly before relaxing. "You've done so well, I'm proud of you..so, so proud" Quinn states sincerely, knowing that this is what Santana needs to hear right now. "I don't think I'd be able to stand that much" she adds.

"Yes, you could" Santana responds simply and Quinn can tell that she means it. "You never give yourself enough credit" she adds through a hug, jaw cracking yawn. "You're badass...so am I" Santana mutters, her exhaustion causing her to slur and Quinn chuckles lightly as she tightens her arms around her girlfriend.

"Alright, badass. Go to sleep, we'll talk in the morning" Quinn whispers affectionately, craning her neck to kiss Santana's forehead. "I love you"

"I love you too" the latina responds, snuggling into Quinn's chest and closing her eyes. Quinn listens as her girlfriend's breathing evens out, glancing over at Rachel as the brunette appears in the doorway, turning the hall light out before tip toeing across the dark bedroom. Quinn smiles as her other girlfriend snuggles into her as well.

"You guys are good?" Rachel questions quietly.

"Yeah. We still need to have a proper talk about things but we're good. She's kind of adorable when she's tired, huh?" Quinn chuckles and Rachel nods, leaning over to kiss Santana's brow and Quinn's lips before settling down against the blonde again. Rachel doesn't say anything but, she hates the Brittany is sleeping down the hall alone..especially now that Brittany is single again but that..that is a problem that can be thought out in the morning. For now, she just embraces the calming and loving energy coming from the two girls in bed with her.

_**To be continued...thank you for reading. Please review.**_


	23. Chapter 23

_**I do not own Glee or any of the original characters, It all belongs to RIB and Fox. Any characters you don't recognise are my own creations.**_

_**So, yeah, this is **__**off of hiatus.**__** I'm hoping to update it regularly and I hope you guys are still interested in this story.**_

_**Thank you for all of the reviews for the previous chapters, I really appreciate the feedback.**_

_**Thank you to N.**_

_**R&R please.**_

Chapter 23

Santana carefully lowers herself into one of the overstuffed armchairs in the library, forcing herself not to wince as her sensitive behind meets the firm cushion. It's been two days since her punishment ended, but she's still feeling extremely tender and sore. It's definitely leaving a lasting impression on her and she learned a very valuable lesson; when Quinn promises or threatens her...take her word for it. At least it's now over. It's one less thing they have to worry about. Of course, everything else in their lives is still a source of concern. They're still staying at the beach house, and Brittany is still staying with them, which means emotions are running very high inside the house. Santana never thought she'd ever feel relieved to go to school, and she'd never thought it would be an escape for her. She wiggles a little, attempting to get comforting, before realizing it's futile. She's only going to be comfortable if she isn't sitting on her ass.

"Hey, honey." Santana looks up from her book when she hears Rachel's voice, a smile spreading across her face.

"Well if it isn't my favorite tiny person," Santana grins, dramatically puckering her lips and waiting for Rachel to kiss her, a victorious smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth when Rachel complies.

"How are you feeling?" Rachel asks, sitting down on the chair next to Santana.

"A little better, I guess," Santana shrugs. "It still sucks to sit down, though." Rachel pouts sympathetically and gently squeezes Santana's knee. "It could be worse, plastic is easier to handle than wood," Santana murmurs, glancing around them to make sure that no one is listening. "Have you seen Brittany today?"

"No, I was actually going to ask you the same thing. I'm a little worried about her," Rachel states softly. "When I saw that she was gone this morning I just assumed she had came to school a little early, but nobody has seen her," Rachel shrugs. "It's strange, it's not like her at all," she adds with a frown. "She usually tells us if she's going somewhere."

"Well, she probably feels like she doesn't have to anymore," Santana tells her gently. "After all, she's not our girlfriend. She's just kinda..well, our roommate, I guess," Santana sighs. "Ugh, everything is just so fucking messed up!" Rachel nods and rubs Santana's knee reassuringly. "Maybe we should call Quinn, see if she has seen Brittany anywhere?"

"Quinn will be here soon, she's just talking to her professor about an assignment and then she's coming to meet us," Rachel tells us. "I didn't think to ask her about Brittany, she seemed a little stressed out about the assignment. And I already tried calling Brittany, but she didn't answer."

"You don't think she's with Nathan, do you?" Santana questions warily, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

"No, he's over there." Rachel jerks her head in the direction of one of the back corners of the library. Santana follows her gaze, and her expression darkens.

"Asshole." Santana glares darkly across the library at the man she views as the devil. The man who had beaten Brittany and made her believe she was worthless. He's evil, and he doesn't deserve to even have good memories with Brittany.

"Don't do anything," Rachel tells her lowly, a hint of warning in her tone. "Just stay where you are, or we can leave, but don't do anything. He's not worth you getting yourself into trouble, either with us or with the police," she adds gently, watching her girlfriend carefully. Santana meets her gaze, and the glare softens..Santana's whole body relaxing as she does everything in her power to calm down.

"You're right," Santana murmurs, sinking backwards in the chair and grimacing when the movement causes her jeans and underwear to chafe against her sensitive behind. A perfectly timed reminder of why it isn't a good idea to lash out at Nathan. "At least we know where he is, which is a good thing considering Britt seems to have gone AWOL." Rachel nods, sighing softly as she watches Nathan out of the corner of her eyes. It gives her a great deal of satisfaction to see that his friends are sitting nowhere near him, they obviously don't want to have anything to do with him after finding out about what he did. Good. He doesn't deserve to have friends who'll have his back.

"Although, I wouldn't mind if karma decided to push him into the path of a speeding truck," Rachel mutters darkly.

"You and me both, baby girl." Santana reaches out and takes a hold of Rachel's hand, their joined hands swinging in between their chairs. Santana stifles a yawn as they wait for Quinn to join them. She wants nothing more than to go back to the beach house and crawl into bed for the next few hours, but she just knows she won't get to do that. Her gut is telling her that something is going on. Something not good. Rachel's cell phone chirps and Santana pulls herself away from her thoughts to look across at her girlfriend. "Quinn?"

"Yeah, she's waiting for us in the car," Rachel tells her, standing up and holding out her hand for Santana to take. Santana allows Rachel to pull her to her feet, and she shoots Nathan another dark look as she is led out of the library. "Promise me you won't go near him," Rachel murmurs as they walk hand in hand down the hallways. "Please don't let your temper get the best of you again, he could really hurt you," Rachel pleads softly.

"Don't worry, baby girl," Santana states gently, leaning across to kiss Rachel's temple. "I've learned my lesson about expressing my anger in the wrong way," she adds, playfully bumping hips with Rachel and causing the shorter woman to stumble slightly. "Oh, sorry, short stuff."

"Yeah, I bet you are."

0-00-0

Quinn sighs softly as she peeks into the guest room, not at all surprised to see that Brittany isn't in there. She's beginning to get really worried now. Brittany has changed, but it is still very strange for her to just disappear without telling anyone. Brittany usually answers her cell phone, or at least texts to say that she can't talk at the moment, but they've been trying to get a hold of her for almost two hours now and...nothing. If she wasn't so worried, Quinn would be pissed about it. She understands that Brittany is no longer their girlfriend, and that means they've lost some rights, but they still deserve to know that she's okay. Stepping into the bedroom, Quinn checks the closet just to ensure that Brittany's clothes are still there, and she is relieved to see that they are. At least she hasn't done something silly and run away.

"Rach is checking the beach." Quinn turns around to see Santana leaning against the door frame, her arms folded across her chest. "I'm worried, Q."

"I know, babe. I am too," Quinn murmurs, sitting down on the edge of the guest bed. "Brittany just seems so..."

"Sad, broken, so unlike herself?" Santana supplies. "Yeah, I noticed," she remarks. "He broke her, and the one thing she needs is the one thing we no longer have the right to give her," Santana mutters. Quinn raises her brow, a silent questions. "Rules, stability..discipline," Santana clarifies. "She's at war with herself, and she's clearly very lost. I think she's struggling without our arrangement...without us."

"You're probably right, San, but it's not our place to say that," Quinn chastises gently.

"Then whose place is it?" Santana retorts. "What, we're just going to watch as she continues on this downward spiral? Keeping our mouths shut because it might feel a little awkward?" she asks gruffly.

"We could make her feel worse," Quinn counters. "Her head has gotta be all over the place, do we really want to pile this onto her as well? And not to mention what it could do us to drag up the past," she comments. "Do you really think we could all just sit around and talk about this over some coffee and then feel perfectly okay?" Quinn questions incredulously. "Our relationship was almost destroyed when she left us, it took us a long time to get back on track. If we have this conversation with her it could hurt us, and it could hurt Brittany," Quinn explains, her voice much softer this time. She studies Santana's features, watching as the stubborn gaze in her dark eyes slowly dissipates. Sighing softly, Quinn stands up and walks across the bedroom to take her girlfriend into her arms, hugging her tightly. "We will look out for her, and we will take care of her as best we can, but it's too soon to bring all of that up, sweetheart," Quinn whispers to her. "Don't get me wrong, baby, I love that you are still so protective of Brittany. I am as well, but give it some time. Give Brittany some time. She may surprise us."

"Yeah," Santana sighs, leaning into Quinn's embrace and laying her head on her shoulder. "You're right, I just...I'm scared, I guess."

"I know you are. We all are," Quinn murmurs. "Let's just see how things go." Quinn pulls away from Santana when her cell phone blares into the almost silent room. "It's Rachel," Quinn says as she glances down at the screen. Santana watches, and listens, as Quinn accepts the call, a frown appearing on Quinn's features. Santana begins to feel nervous when Quinn's frown deepens, her brow furrowing as she silently stares at Quinn. "We'll be right there, Rach."

"What is it? Is it Brittany? Is she okay?!" Santana bombards Quinn with questions as soon as she ends the call, her pulse quickening.

"Brittany's on the beach. Rachel says she's okay, but she's drunk and she's bleeding."

_**To be continued...**_

_**This is just a small chapter to get me back into the swing of writing this fic. Who knew spending 10 months away from a story could make it so hard to pick up again! ;-)**_

_**Please review, and please let me know if you guys are still interested in this story. Future chapters will be longer.**_


	24. Chapter 24

_**I do not own Glee or any of the original characters. It all belongs to Fox and RIB. Any characters you do not recognise are my own creations.**_

_**A/N - I'm sorry I've been gone so long, I really did need to just take a break from all of this. Thank you to everyone who has been patient and supportive, it means a lot.**_

_**The feedback for the last chapter completely blew me away, Thank you so much!**_

_**R&R please.**_

**Chapter 24**

Santana all but sprints out of the beach house, Quinn hot on her heels, as they go in search of Rachel and Brittany. Squinting against the strong afternoon sun, Santana looks along the beach, her dark eyes desperately searching for the other girls. After a moment she spots two figures in the distance, one laying on the sand and the other one kneeling down next to the other figure. That's them. Santana takes off along the beach, running as fast as she can on the uneven sand and shouting for Quinn to hurry up. As they get closer, they can hear Brittany's sobs growing louder and blood pounds in Santana's ears as she urges her legs to move faster. She reaches them before Quinn does, and she drops to her knees in the sand, breathing heavily as she snatches the tequila bottle from Brittany's hands. Santana takes Brittany's bare foot into her hands when she notices the blood that stains her porcelain skin.

"Jesus, Britt. What happened?" Santana asks, unable to hide just how concerned she is when she sees that there is blood on Brittany's arm as well. "Did he do this to you?" Santana questions darkly. Brittany doesn't answer. She just continues to sob and ramble incoherently as Quinn drops down next to them.

"I think it was just a broken shell," Rachel states softly, motioning towards the cut on Brittany's foot. "I don't know what happened to her arm." Quinn frowns deeply as she gently touches Brittany's arm, fearing the worst, but not voicing her fears. She sighs softly, her shoulders slumping as relief flows through her.

"It's just blood from her foot," Quinn tells them quietly. "She's got it all over herself. I think it's just her foot that she hurt. She's completely wasted, we need to get her inside and try and sober her up." With great difficulty, Santana helps Quinn pull Brittany to her feet and the two of them support her weight as they slowly make their way back to the beach house, being very careful and not allowing her to put any weight on her injured foot. Rachel walks behind them, carrying Brittany's things and doing her best to hold off the tears that threaten to fall from her eyes. She needs to be strong, at least until they have finished dealing with Brittany. It takes them several moments to reach the beach house, and a few more for them to get Brittany up the steps. They half carry, half drag Brittany into the house and lay her as gently as they can onto the couch.

"I'm not worth it," Brittany slurs. Santana exchanges a glance with Quinn and furrows her brow.

"You're not worth what?" Santana questions softly, kneeling down beside the sofa so that she is face to face with Brittany. She can smell the tequila on her breath, and Santana has to force herself not to react to it.

"Anything. I'm not worth anything." The bitterness in Brittany's tone is something that the other three girls have never heard before. They can tell that she believes what she is saying, and it devastates them. Three hearts simultaneously break for the second time in recent months.

"Why would you think that?" Santana asks softly as she slumps down onto her backside, ignoring the dull ache that's still there, and leans against the sofa. "You're not worthless, Brittany. You'll never be worthless," she states quietly, and sincerely.

"The only thing I'm good at is being a punching bag," Brittany bites out. Santana sucks in air through her teeth as fury courses through her. Nathan did this. He beat Brittany, he beat her optimism and self belief out of her. She can only pray that those things will, in time, return. "You had to punish me for being stupid, he had to punish me too."

"No!" All three girls are surprised to hear so much anger in Rachel's voice. "No. What he did wasn't a punishment, it was cruel and evil. It was a sick way of keeping you under his control, he beat you to ensure that," Rachel states chillingly. "You were never punished because any of us thought you were stupid, because you're not, you were punished because you broke the rules that we all set for each other. He is a sick bastard, do not let him ruin you!"

"I just want to sleep," Brittany whispers brokenly. "I'm too tired." The other three girls know that there is a double meaning in Brittany's whimpered statement. They share a sad look as Santana slowly gets to her feet, the young woman sighing softly.

"You can't go to bed like this, Britt," she murmurs gently, looking down at the blood, and sand, covered girl. "You're a little gross," Santana adds lightly, ignoring the chastising glint in Quinn's eyes. She holds out her hand for Brittany to take, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Quinn and Rachel jump to their feet to help. The three of them pull Brittany to her feet, holding their ex girlfriend steady. "Rach, can you go get some water and painkillers please, we'll meet you upstairs," Santana requests softly, a reassuring smile gracing her full lips.

"Of course." Quinn and Santana carefully lead Brittany towards the stairs, an extremely difficult task. They reach the top of the stairs and Santana feels Brittany's body shudder, the girl drunkenly lunging forward to the bathroom. She vomits violently, emptying the liquid contents of her stomach into the toilet as Quinn holds her steady and Santana holds her hair back. Brittany feels a warm hand rub soothing circles onto her back as her stomach lurches again. After what feels like an eternity, Brittany stops throwing up, gasping for air. Her whole body feels weak, and empty.

"Oh...gross." Santana glances up at Rachel as her girlfriend hovers in the doorway with a glass of water.

"Rach," Santana gently chides with a frown. She reaches over Brittany's head and flushes the toilet. "Come on, honey. We need to get you cleaned up. You're covered in...everything," Santana murmurs.

"Can you guys help me?" Brittany asks, her voice so soft and fragile that the other three girls instantly frown.

"Of course," Quinn responds quietly. Rachel exchanges a wary look with both of her girlfriends, the idea of seeing Brittany naked, especially when she is in such a vulnerable state of mind, is unnerving for her. At the same time, though, she knows they need to help her; they can't just leave her to fend for herself. They can't abandon her, even if she had done it to them. Santana helps Brittany to her feet and awkwardly gestures towards the girl's clothes.

"You...uh, do you need help?" Santana questions softly, unable to hide the nervous fear from her face. Brittany seems hesitant, and sad, but she nods. She throws her arms up, much like an infant, and Santana carefully pulls the blood, sand and vomit stained t'shirt from her ex girlfriend's body. She swallows thickly, making intense eye contact with Brittany, making sure not to look anywhere but at her face.

"Oops," Brittany mumbles, a drunken giggle escaping her lips as she stumbles out of her pants. She's massively more sober than she was a little while ago, but the alcohol still has a hold of her senses. Rachel hands Brittany the glass of water, softly murmuring for her to drink it.

"You need to rehydrate," Rachel encourages her. Brittany's blue eyes narrow, and she stares at the glass as though it's a dangerous weapon before, eventually, accepting the glass from the shorter girl. She's more thirsty than she thought, and she drains the glass in a few, short seconds.

"Alright, let's get you cleaned up," Quinn states gently, holding her hand out to Brittany and helping her into the shower. Brittany stumbles underneath the hot spray of water, and Quinn immediately hops in next to her, still dressed in her shorts and tank top. "Sit down," Quinn urges, holding tightly onto Brittany's arms until the girl's backside meets the bottom of the shower. "Tip your head back," Quinn gently murmurs as she kneels down in front of Brittany.

"It feels weird," Rachel whispers to Santana, leaning heavily into Santana's side as the taller girl wraps an arm around her waist.

"I know," Santana murmurs, her eyes never leaving the uncomfortably intimate scene in front of them. She turns her head slightly to press a gentle kiss to Rachel's temple, "I know." Santana watches as Quinn gently massages shampoo into Brittany's scalp, unable to explain how she is feeling about it. It's a feeling she has never experienced before. This moment makes her realise that they will never truly get over Brittany, she's always going to be a huge part of their lives. Brittany will always have their love. They'll never be done with her. They'll never be fully complete without her. Santana doesn't even realise that she's lost in her thoughts until she feels Rachel pull away from her. Santana stays where she is, watching as her two girlfriends wrap Brittany into a towel, only moving when Quinn asks her to find some pajamas for Brittany. She loves Quinn even more for that. Quinn had known that she had needed something to do, and she had made sure she did.

"Let's get you dried off," Santana hears Quinn murmurs, and she feels her heart swell at the kindness in Quinn's voice. Quinn amazes her every day, and surprises her even more often than that. She doesn't know how Quinn is able to feel so calm about this, or how she is able to take control of the situation. Santana quickly makes her way to the guest bedroom and grabs the first pair of pajamas she can find, before rushing back to her own bedroom that she shares with Quinn and Rachel. She doesn't even question the fact that Brittany has been taken into their bedroom, it feels natural.

"It's okay, sweetie, we've got her," Santana murmurs reassuringly to Quinn. "Go put some dry clothes on." Quinn doesn't argue, merely allowing her girlfriends to take over. Getting Brittany dressed in her pajamas is not an easy task, and Santana is somewhat surprised that she and Rachel had even managed it by the time Quinn joins them again.

"Take our bed tonight, Britt," Rachel tells her quietly. "Just try and sleep," she adds gently as the three of them guide Brittany onto the bed, not caring about their pillows getting soaked by Brittany's, still dripping, hair.

"Stay with me." Brittany's voice is soft and sad, and her eyes are scared and nervous, as though she is terrified that they will say no.

"Britt..." Santana begins, unsure of what to say.

"Please," Brittany whimpers. "Please just stay with me tonight, I don't want to be alone," she whispers brokenly. Santana sighs softly and exchanges a look with Quinn and Rachel, each girl trying to work out what the other is thinking. "Please," Brittany pleads, her voice cracking painfully as tears leak from her stunningly blue eyes.

"Please don't cry," Rachel whispers, crawling into bed with Brittany. "We're right here, honey." Santana and Quinn share heartbroken glances before climbing into bed, both of them sandwiching Brittany and Rachel between them. For the first time in a long time, the four of them lay in bed together, their bodies molded to each other's as they comfort Brittany. The one other person in the world that they love as much as they love each other. There's no thoughts given to the damage it may, or may not, cause as they hold each other tightly, slowly drifting into a peaceful slumber.

"We're here," Santana murmurs sleepily, her eyelids heavily. "We'll always be here."

_**To be continued... Hope you liked the update, there will be another one soon! Please review.**_


	25. Chapter 25

_**I do not own Glee or any of the original characters. It all belongs to Fox and RIB. Any characters you do not recognise are my own creations.**_

_**I apologise for the long wait for this chapter. Real life and lack of motivation for this story made it hard to write this update.**_

_**This story will be updated on a regular basis until it is finished. I estimate that chapter 30 will be the final chapter. Hope you guys are still into this story!**_

_**R&R please.**_

**Chapter 25**

Rachel lets out a small groan as she wakes up, squinting against the harsh sunlight that streams through the gap in the curtains. It takes her a moment to remember why she's in bed with Brittany, and she sighs softly as last night's events drift to the front of her mind. Santana and Quinn are no longer in bed with them so Rachel figures it must be pretty late in the morning. She never usually sleeps longer than Santana. Brittany stirs next to her and Rachel softly hushes her, gently combing her fingers through Brittany's soft hair until the other girl settles down. Rachel doesn't move for a few moments, she's too scared of waking Brittany up again. She figures Brittany can afford to put the impending hangover off for a little while longer. Rachel slowly shifts towards the edge of the bed, praying that she doesn't wake Brittany up, and shimmies off of the edge. She grabs one of Santana's hoodies from the floor, where Santana would often leave her clothes, and pulls it over her head.

"Thief." Rachel jumps slightly, glaring at Santana as she leans against the doorframe, smirking at her girlfriend. "Sorry," Santana quietly adds, but Rachel doesn't think she sounds sorry at all. Santana holds her hand out for Rachel to take, smiling when her wish is granted. "Morning, baby girl," Santana murmurs as she presses a soft kiss to Rachel's lips. "You must have been exhausted, it's almost eleven." Rachel nods sleepily and leans heavily against Santana as they walk downstairs. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Rachel nods, "just processing." Santana smiles in understanding, squeezing Rachel's hand reassuringly.

"I know what you mean, babe." Santana leads Rachel into the kitchen and pushes her into one of the chairs, "coffee?"

"Mmm, yes please," Rachel groans. "I can't believe how tired I still feel," she adds grumpily. Santana shakes her head at her girlfriend and pours her a glass of water from the faucet.

"It's because you're dehydrated," Santana tells her, handing her the glass. "The water will help you more than the coffee will."

"I still want coffee, though," Rachel remarks, smiling sweetly at Santana. "Where's Quinn?"

"She went to get some groceries," Santana replies, glancing over her shoulder as she prepares some coffee for Rachel. "We kinda assumed that none of us would be going to class today. What with what happened last night and all," she softly states.

"Yeah..." Rachel looks down at her hands, falling silent. Santana doesn't miss the change in Rachel's demeanour. She sits down next to her and slides the mug of coffee towards her, waiting for Rachel to speak. "I miss her," Rachel murmurs after a moment, her vulnerability present. Santana nods, not trusting herself to speak just yet. "It's like... you know when you get a haircut, and then you hate it? You don't like the change at all and you wish you could just snap your fingers and it would go back to how it was..." Rachel pauses, holding her coffee close to her chest. "You get used to it, you still like it, but you learn to live with it, but.."

"every single time you look in the mirror, you're reminded of it," Santana finishes for her.

"Yeah," Rachel whispers. "It feels wrong. She's here, she's right upstairs, but she's not ours. We shared a bed with her and we're protecting her, but she's not our girlfriend anymore. I got used to not having her, but I didn't stop missing her," Rachel murmurs, blinking back tears as she lays her head on Santana's shoulder.

"I know, baby," Santana whispers, tilting her head to kiss Rachel's temple. "Neither did I."

"It hurts," Rachel whimpers. "It hurts to be around her when I don't get to be that part of her life." Santana nods, swallowing thickly. Her own tears blur her gaze, but she doesn't let them fall. She takes Rachel's coffee, placing it on the table, and pulls Rachel into her arms. She doesn't know what else to do, and she doesn't know what to say. Santana rocks her ever slightly, her arms tightening around her small frame when she hears a quiet sob escape Rachel's lips. This is the sight that greets Quinn when she walks in a few minutes later, and she doesn't need to ask what has her girlfriends so upset. She just knows. It's the same thing that has her feeling like her heart is going to crumble; Brittany. Without speaking, Quinn drops the groceries onto the table and kneels in front of them, wrapping her arms around her girlfriends. None of them speak...they don't need to. Each young woman knows the others feel, and it only serves to make them feel worse.

"Is she still sleeping?" Quinn quietly questions, looking at Santana. Santana nods her head yes, not missing the tiny flicker of relief that passes through Quinn's hazel eyes. She's kind of relieved, too. Rachel shifts in her arms and she looks down into her brown, wet eyes.

"Make me feel good," Rachel pleads. Santana frowns, not understanding. "Please, make me feel good," Rachel takes a hold of Santana's hand and pushes it between her legs. Santana's eyes widen and she glances at Quinn.

"Sweetheart, aren't you a little too upset for that right now?" Quinn softly asks. Rachel rapidly shakes her head,

"no. I just, I want to feel close to you both," Rachel whispers, her dark eyes pleading with them. Her breath hitches, she no longer has to ask. Santana's fingers lightly rub against Rachel's crotch through her thin panties, her eyes never leaving Rachel's. Using just one finger, Santana adds more pressure and she feels Rachel's panties dampen underneath her touch. Rachel whimpers as Quinn attaches her lips to her pulse point, and she revels in the attention her girlfriends are giving her.

"Quiet," Quinn commands into Rachel's ear, sending a shiver down her spine. Rachel swallows a groan, determined to stay quiet. When her girlfriends take charge like this, it works out even better for her if she listens to them. Santana meets Quinn's gaze and smirks, pushing Rachel's panties aside and running her finger through her girlfriend's soaking wet folds.

"So wet already," Santana whispers, nibbling on Rachel's ear. "What do you want, baby. Tell me what you want," Santana husks.

"Inside," Rachel gasps, "inside." Santana grins, it's not often that Rachel is rendered almost speechless and she loves that she can get Rachel so worked up so quickly. Quinn gently scrapes her teeth along Rachel's jaw, her eyes fixed on Santana's hand. She feels Rachel squirm under their touch and it causes her pulse to quicken.

"Does that make you feel good?" Santana murmurs into Rachel's ear, circling Rachel's erect clit with her index finger.

"Uh huh," Rachel breathes out, her hips bucking. Quinn smirks and pushes down on Rachel's thighs, pinning her legs down as Santana works her magic. Rachel whines, pushing against Quinn's hand,

"uh uh," Quinn tsks. "Let go," she murmurs. "We're in control. Let go, baby." Santana slides her finger down Rachel's wet centre, moving away from her clit, silently telling Rachel to listen to Quinn. Rachel ceases her movements, her dark eyes pleading with Santana to keep going. Santana kisses Rachel's neck, her finger drawing large circles around Rachel's clit, her finger easily slipping through the hot flesh as she narrows the circle. "Much better," Quinn praises softly, placing a line of tender kisses along Rachel's jawline. "Much better," she repeats and Rachel can feel Quinn's warm breath on her cheek.

"Shit," Rachel whispers, her voice a mere squeak as Santana adds more pressure. Santana grins, her teasing finger rubbing gentle circles on top of her girlfriend's clit. Rachel can feel her orgasm building, the pressure in her lower abdomen weakening the rest of her body.

"Come for us, baby," Santana husks, pressing the tip of her finger down. Rachel lets a yelp as waves of pleasure ripple through her and Quinn kisses her, stifling Rachel's moans with her mouth. She feels Rachel go limp beneath her and she slips her arm around Rachel's waist to stop her from sliding off her chair. Santana lays her chin on Rachel's shoulder, her hand still cupping her girlfriend's dripping sex. "You're so beautiful when you come," she murmurs, loving that she makes Rachel blush. She hears Rachel sniffle and she straightens up in alarm, "baby?"

"No, I'm okay," Rachel swears. "I just... I'm okay."

_**To be continued... Yes, a very small chapter, but I really liked where I ended it. Please don't focus on the word count. There won't be a long wait for the next chapter, I promise.**_

_**Please review - Hope you guys are still interested in this.**_


	26. Chapter 26

_**I do not own Glee or any of the original characters, It all belongs to RIB and Fox. Any characters you don't recognise are my own creations.**_

_**As promised, a much quicker update.**_

_**Thank you to those who kindly left feedback, I love hearing your thoughts :)**_

_**R&R please.**_

**Chapter 26**

She has only been awake for a mere ten minutes and, for the third time, Brittany curses herself for drinking so much last night. It had seemed like such a great way to deal with her feelings last night, but now she feels like she has only added to that long list. She feels conflicted, and heartbroken, and weak. Now, on top of all of that, she has the hangover from hell. Her limbs feel like jello and her head pounds like there is a teeny, tiny drummer playing a solo inside of her brain. She's thirsty, too, but that's easy to solve. One of other women in the beach house had left her a glass of water and some aspirin on the bedside table, and she's extremely grateful for it.

Brittany throws the aspirin into her mouth and drains the glass of water. She feels a little better for drinking the water. Checking her cell phone, Brittany notices that it's well after noon, and she forces herself to get out of room spins and Brittany has to pause for a moment, inhaling deeply. Slowly, she walks towards the door of the bedroom and pulls it open,

"Jesus Christ," she breathes out, her hand on her chest as she gazes at Quinn. "I didn't hear you come upstairs," Brittany murmurs, feeling a little embarrassed. Quinn smiles,

"clearly," she states in amusement. Quinn schools her features, something she is way too good at, and studies Brittany. "How are you feeling? Has your cut stopped bleeding?" Brittany flushes a light shade of pink, images of the night before flickering at the front of her mind.

"I'm okay," Brittany murmurs, her gaze sliding to the floor as shame takes over. "I just feel little...unwell today," she softly adds.

"Yeah, I bet," Quinn teasingly says and Brittany is grateful that she is keeping the mood light. She can't deal with any heavy stuff right now. "Come down, have some orange juice or something. It'll make you feel a little better," Quinn states kindly. Brittany nods,

"I'll be down in a second," she responds, awkwardly gesturing towards the bathroom.

"Oh! Oh, right, of course," Quinn chuckles, hating how awkward she feels around Brittany. "I'll just...uh, see you down there." Quinn all but flies out of the room, rushing downstairs. She heads straight to the back door and steps out onto the deck, leaning heavily against the wooden railing. She sighs loudly and glares out at the ocean, as though the waves are to blame for everything they have gone through lately. She hates this. She hates it so, so much. They're supposed to be over Brittany, but she can tell that her girlfriends still miss her so much. She does, too. Sleeping in the same bed as Brittany last night had been so hard, and all she had wanted to do was curl into the taller blonde and nuzzle her neck, but she couldn't do that. She's no longer allowed. She wishes it was easier. She wishes that Brittany being single now meant she could join them again, but it doesn't.

Brittany had left them...abandoned them to be that asshole Nathan, despite how much Quinn had thought she loved them. Brittany had broken up with them and later admitted that it was because she thought their future together would be too difficult. Quinn sighs, Brittany had a point there. Their lives would have many obstacles. The world hasn't even wrapped their heads around two women being together, never mind four of them. But, they wouldn't let that stop them from being together. Their love is still strong, and they want more than anything to spend the rest of their lives together. Quinn had thought Brittany felt that way, too. Apparently not. Quinn hates herself for it, but she still feels anger and bitterness towards Brittany. She still loves her, and she will always help her as much as she physically can, but Quinn doesn't think she'll ever lose that bitterness.

"I can almost hear your brain thinking." Quinn glances at Santana as the young woman joins her at the railing, leaning forward on her forearms. "It sucks," Santana states plainly.

"Yeah," Quinn sighs. "I thought we were getting better at this," she murmurs.

"Better at what?" Santana questions, though she's pretty sure she already knows what Quinn is about to say.

"Living without her." She was right. Santana puffs out her cheeks and slowly blows the air out, staring out at the beach.

"We haven't lived without her," she mutters. "Not really. She's always with us," she remarks with a dry laugh. Santana gazes at Quinn's profile, easily reading her thoughts off of her features. "I think she misses being with us just as much as we miss being with her," Santana states sincerely, "but it's not as easy as that, is it? So much has happened...so much has changed."

"She's still Brittany," Quinn whispers, "she's still our Brittany, she's just... she's been hurt. Hurt in a completely different way than we have been hurt, but she's still Brittany. She's still the person who pretty much brought the four of us together. I just can't work out how the hell we're supposed to continue on without her," she adds honestly.

"You want her back," Santana states lowly. It isn't a question. Quinn sighs and turns to face her girlfriend,

"don't we all?" she asks, her voice full of raw emotion and her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "It feels wrong to not have her. It feels like we're incomplete and I have tried so hard to convince myself that it'll get better, but it's not getting better...it's getting harder. Every single day, every single hour that we're with her as her fucking friends, it gets harder!" Quinn's voice cracks and she finds herself wrapped in Santana's comforting arms. "I just want us to be complete again," she chokes out, sobs wracking her body.

"I know," Santana murmurs, blinking back her own tears, "I know. We need to get out of the house tonight, the three of us. Even if it's just for a little while. The three of us need to talk about this, communication is something that we need to work on and we can start by being open with each other about we're feeling. All three of us." Santana feels Quinn nod against her shoulder and she smiles softly. She pulls back from the hug and uses the pad of her thumb to wipe the stray tears from Quinn's face. "Even when you're crying and getting snot on my clothes, you still look beautiful," she remarks with a grin. Quinn laughs. It's weak, but a laugh nonetheless.

0-00-0

Rachel looks up from her magazine as Brittany groggily stumbles into the kitchen, her hair mussed and her features drawn. Brittany looks like crap, yet still pretty at the same time. Rachel had never been able to work out how that happened, Brittany just never looks bad. Ever.

"Morning," Brittany mumbles as she pours herself a coffee, also grabbing the glass of fresh orange juice that someone had left on the counter for her.

"Afternoon," Rachel corrects her, not even attempting to hide the disapproval in her voice. She feels bad for Brittany, and she feels bad for herself, too, but she isn't going to pretend that it's okay to get dangerously drunk and disappear. It's something that Santana does, and it scares her a whole lot.

"Yeah," Brittany forces a small smile, "I was kind of out of it last night," she murmurs. Rachel raises her eyebrows, but holds her tongue. It's not her place to lecture Brittany for being irresponsible. "I'm sorry I put you guys through that," Brittany states softly, "I just wasn't thinking, but I really appreciate you guys taking care of me."

"It's not like we could just leave you lying on the beach covered in booze and your own blood," Rachel remarks, surprising herself with her bitter tone. Brittany looks away, her face burning with shame. She sits down across from Rachel and worries her bottom lip in her teeth, unable to bring herself to make eye contact with her ex girlfriend.

"I know I screwed up," Brittany softly says. "I know that, I just... I'm having a hard time."

"So your way of dealing with someone hurting you is to hurt yourself some more?" Rachel is frustrated, "that doesn't make any sense, Brittany." It's harsh, and Rachel knows she probably shouldn't have said, but she's just so upset with Brittany. This whole situation is killing her and, eventually, it may end up killing what is left of their relationship with each other.

"You don't get to say if another person's way of dealing with things doesn't make sense," Brittany retorts, "people deal with things in their own way...a way that works for them." She usually wouldn't be so defensive towards Rachel, but her hangover and recent events have taken its toll on her self control and patience.

"Did it work?" Rachel asks, her irritation clearly showing on her features. "Did getting drunk beside water, whilst bleeding and drinking heavily work? Did it make you feel better? Did it fix everything? 'Cause, from where I'm standing, everything is still a mess!" Rachel exclaims. "Maybe it's a good thing you left us, because you can't even own up to how ridiculous you acted last night, there'd be no way you'd accept a punishment. Maybe you're too different now," Rachel snaps. Both young women and breathing heavily, and things have gotten too heated too quickly for either of their liking, but it's too late to stop now. Neither of them even cast a glance in Santana and Quinn's direction when they come inside.

"Then maybe you should do it!" Brittany blurts out, slamming her hand down on the table. Rachel freezes,

"what?" she breathes out. She stares at Brittany, her eyebrows knitting together.

"Punish me," Brittany states evenly.

"Britt?" Santana takes a step forward, glancing at Rachel and then back at Brittany, "what's going on?"

"I need it," Brittany whimpers. She suddenly looks broken, her eyes brimming with tears as she gazes pleadingly at each of her ex girlfriends.

"What? Brittany, this.." Rachel falters for a moment, "you didn't even accept that what you did wasn't a good a matter of seconds ago. "How...?" she trails off and looks at Quinn and Santana for support.

"Brittany," Quinn begins, "you're not our girlfriend anymore and what you're asking for is...it's intimate. The arrangement is..." she pauses, unsure if she should really say it, "it's private now. You don't...you don't get to experience that with us anymore." Brittany stares at her, her eyes leaking salty tears as she slowly stands up.

"Please," Brittany whimpers, her chin quivering. "This is...it's so hard," she chokes out. "I feel lost and I... I need it," she begs. "Please, Quinn, please." Quinn struggles to keep her composure, but she stands strong. She can't give into this, she knows that. Brittany looks so young, and innocent, and lost. It feels like a knife to her heart to see Brittany begging for their help, but being unable to give her it. Brittany scrambles forward, "Santana, you know me the best...you know I need this," Brittany struggles to speak, her chest heaving as she hyperventilates. "Please, Santana!"

"Britt..." Santana begins, but she stops when Brittany drops to her knees in front of her, tears streaming down her cheeks as she grips onto the front of Santana's shirt.

"Please, Santana! Please don't turn me away," Brittany sobs, "I need you to help me." Brittany wraps her arms around Santana's waist and buries her face in her stomach. Santana is frozen. She doesn't know what to do or what to say. "Please don't push me away."

"Brittany," Rachel steps forward, but she is stopped by Brittany's blood curdling scream, the blonde loudly sobbing into Santana's stomach. They've never seen Brittany like this before, and it scares all of them into silence. Brittany's cries grow and she stutters out pleas and promises,

"please. I need you."

_**To be continued... Again, it's short, but these chapters are so hard to write. Hopefully the quality is high enough for the quantity not to matter. Please review.**_


End file.
